


Everybody Wants To Love You

by LynGuerra



Series: 09:30 [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drug Use, Explicit Language, F/M, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Teen Romance, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2018-12-24 00:21:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 39,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12001020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LynGuerra/pseuds/LynGuerra
Summary: Sure, Ava and Butch always got under each other's skin growing up. It failed to stop an attraction between the two of them, regardless if that attraction stemmed from selfish wants or a need for attention.





	1. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after the song by The Smiths.

He found her stripped from clothing and chained to a stone wall. Dried blood stained her blonde hair and mixed with the dirt that infected scratches underneath her closed eyes. With all of his might he swung his axe and broke the chains that bound her and caught her in his arms before she fell over, but only mere seconds later…

“What’s that?”

Ava looked up from her comic to see Freddie Gomez standing beside her booth. They sat in the diner where Cole Porter crooned through the jukebox and the children talked loudly to their friends that were only inches away from them. All of children, as well as their teacher, Mr. Brotch, were there for their lunch break. It was the same as any other day, a pack of potato crisps, Cram sandwiches, and a Nuka-Cola.

“Grognak,” Ava answered. “Amata gave it to me on my birthday last year.”

Freddie slid into the booth seat across from Ava. He leaned over the table to get a closer look at the cover of the comic book and read the title, “Lair of the Virgin Eater.”

Usually, Ava ate lunch with her best friend Amata Almodovar, but she sat at another booth with Christine Kendall and Susie Mack to talk about the student council they created. Susie was running for secretary, Christine wanted to be vice-president, and, to no surprise, Amata campaigned for president. Considering no one was running against them, there would be no reason for a vote among the class since they were guaranteed to get the positions they wanted, but Amata wanted the class to vote for everyone to feel included.

“Hey, I think I found one of those comics in my dad’s old stuff. You can come over and we could-”

“Nosebleed is your new friend, Freddie?” Ava rolled her eyes at the sound of Butch DeLoria’s grating voice. He walked over to their booth with his friends Wally Mack and Paul Hannon Jr. right behind him. “Hey, Wally, I think Freddie’s in love!”

“Yeah, Freddie, why don’t you introduce us to your new girlfriend?” Wally laughed and punched Freddie’s arm.

“Leave him alone, Wally,” Ava said.

Butch stepped closer to Ava, his blue eyes pierced into her hazel eyes. His hands balled into fist. “What’re you gonna do, Nosebleed? Daddy doctor ain’t here to save you.”

“At least I have a dad to help me. For all we know, yours could’ve been anyone in the Vault.”

“You, bitch!” Butch swung his fist in the air, hitting Ava directly underneath her eye. She aimed for his face when she threw her comic book, but Butch had his other hand gripped on the collar of her jumpsuit and pulled her down to the floor before the comic could hit him. He climbed on top of her, slammed her head to the floor, and pulled at her hair, ripping some strands from her head in the process. Ava tried to claw at Butch’s face, though her nails were cut too short to scratch him. “Hey! Let go of me, jackass!”

Butch flailed his arms and legs in the air as Officer Gomez pulled him away from Ava. “Butch! Hitting a girl, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been nothing but trouble since the day you were born!”

“She started it!” Butch whined.

“I’ll take it from here. Thank you, Gomez.” Mr. Brotch patted Officer Gomez’s shoulder. “Butch, Wally, Paul, come on. We need to have a talk.”

The three boys complained as they followed Mr. Brotch outside of the diner to have a talk. Amata ran from the booth she sat at to help Ava up from the floor. “You never learn, do you? You can’t help shooting your mouth off, even though you know it could get you a bloody nose.”

The fluorescent lights in the clinic glared on Jonas Palmer’s glasses. He stood before Ava, who sat one of the gurneys, as he tended to her small wounds. She held a cold Nuka-Cola to the bruise forming underneath her left eye, while Jonas Palmer finished bandaging the cuts on her knees and leg. “This is starting to become a reoccurring problem.” He commented.

Ava lowered the Nuka-Cola from her face so Jonas could inspect if the bruise grew worse. “They were teasing Freddie, kept saying I was his girlfriend.”

Jonas smiled, “Are you?”

“We’re just friends.” Ava clarified, but Jonas shrugged his shoulders with a small smile still lingering on his face.

Jonas mimed zipping his mouth shut. “Doctor-patient confidentiality, remember. I won’t a say a word. Still… you should let Freddie fight his own battles. He needs to learn how to stand up to Butch on his own.”

“It’s not just Butch. It’s Wally and Paul, too.” Ava thought for moment. “…I think they call themselves the Tunnel Rats, or something.”

“Paul?” Jonas pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. “He’s always seemed like a good kid.”

“He’s nice when he’s not around Butch or Wally. He’s a follower.”

“Maybe one day he’ll grow to be his own person. People change and grow. It’s all a part of life.”

Ava took the advice from Jonas and let Freddie handle the Tunnel Rats on his own. As five years went by, the Tunnel Rats rebranded as the Tunnel Snakes, a greased hair, leather jacket wearing gang that tormented every adult or peer in the Vault, and it seemed like Freddie walked the same path as Paul to become another follower to Butch and his crew. He always tried to prove himself to them by pretending to be tough and act mean towards to girls in the Vault, but Ava knew it was all a front until Freddie stopped getting bullied as much. When that happened he quit his tough boy act and returned back to being shy, nervous Freddie Gomez.

Amata and Ava sat in the center of the clinic with Ava’s Pip-Boy sitting in the middle of them. Emerging from the speakers of the Pip-Boy was a gruff voice. “ _Chasmen, Chamomile, Bane, Ecstasy, this can only be… the Den of Mysteries_.”

Amata and Ava’s eyes widened. Following the gruff voice was a breathy voice that said, “ _Be still, sweet Shroud. I removed that scumbag’s slug, but you’re sick with fever and still suffering_.”

The gruff voice returned after two hearty coughs. “ _Mistress of Mystery, no, I’m alright, but the Mayor… Mayor Fahy! We stumbled upon a most sinister plot, old friend_.”

The creaking of the steel Vault door sliding open overpowered the voices coming from the Pip-Boy. James and Jonas entered the clinic. James had his head down and read through some notes on the clipboard he was holding, making Jonas the only one to see the two girls glaring at them when they walked in.

“I think if we tinker with the experiment a little more it’ll work, but we're still in need of the proper equipment.”

“Dr. Jurado,” Amata called his name to get his attention. James looked up from his notes to see the girls on the floor. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re kind of ruining the show.”

“Is an old pre-War show on a holotape more important than scientific discovery? Forget I asked.” James said as he and Jonas walked to his office.

Before they could return their focus back to the show, they could hear the sound of hurried footsteps in the hallway. Each step grew closer to the clinic until the steel doors slid open again. They immediately recognized the lean, middle-aged man that stood in the doorway. “Dad…” Amata picked herself up from the floor to go to him, but the Overseer held his arm out for her not to get to close and walked passed her to get to the office.

“Good evening, Alphonse.” James said as the man barged into his office. The Overseer didn’t say a word until the doors to the office slid shut. He snatched the paperwork on James’s desk and skimmed through the notes scribbled on it before throwing it to the floor. James stood up from his desk and yelled, “What do you think you’re doing?”

The Overseer raised his index finger and pointed it towards James. “You are to mend broken bones, prescribe medication, and see to the health of my residents. Those “experiments” are a waste of time!”

Jonas knelt down to pick up the documents that were scattered on the floor.

“Don’t be a damned fool!” James yelled back. “We know nothing of the viruses or bacteria that survive down here! We experiment to prepare. We prepare to survive.”

“You shall put an end to this foolishness and do your damn job!” The Overseer stormed out of the room to see Amata standing near the entrance to the office and Ava on the floor, attaching her Pip-Boy back on her arm. “Amata, you’re coming home.”

“Dad, wha-”

“Now!” His roaring voice echoed in the clinic.

It had been a day since the Overseer’s outburst in the clinic, but Amata and Ava both pretended not to be knowledgeable of the situation. They both knew of the tension between their fathers and sometimes their issues between the two of them interfered with Amata and Ava’s friendship whenever the Overseer would bar Amata from being around Ava.

Ava woke up early in the morning for class. She and her father shared a compact one-bedroom apartment. She looked over to her father’s bed that was on the other side of the room, it was empty. Ava figured he was already at his office. When she finally lifted up from her bed, Ava made her way to her dresser to get one of her many blue jumpsuits, a black bra, and a fresh set of underwear. On top of the dresser she retrieved her comb, brush, hair tie, soap, towels, toothbrush and preserved pre-War toothpaste. Two hundred year old mint was horrible on the taste buds, but it manages to keep teeth clean. She held tightly onto her belongings as she walked down the hall to the women’s bathroom. Inside were five toilet stalls as well as five showers with a shower curtain on each for privacy. Ava stripped from her shorts and cropped shirt she wore to sleep and placed all of her belongings on the sink counter.

Cold water blasted onto Ava’s bare skin as soon as she twisted the shower knob. The soap formed suds on her body as she scrubbed her tan skin clean from any dirt or grime. She only spent about ten minutes inside of the shower. Once she was done she grabbed her large towel to wrap it around her. Her feet left wet footprints on the floor when she walked over to the sink. She cocked her head sideways and some of the water from her drenched dark brown hair. She raked her comb through her wet hair and used her brush to pull it back into a ponytail.

After drying herself clean, she proceeded to put on her bra, underwear, and zipped herself inside of the blue jumpsuit. Just as it did for everyone else, the jumpsuit was fitted tight onto Ava’s body. As years went by and her body began to develop further into a shapely figure, the formfitting jumpsuit showed it. She finished her morning routine by washing her face and brushing her teeth, and then returned to her apartment to dump her dirty clothes in a bin.

Ava was near the classroom when she heard yelling from down the hall. She figured it was Butch’s mother staggering throughout the Vault drunk again, but when she looked over to who was making the noise, Ava saw Amata surrounded by the Tunnel Snakes.

“Get out of my way, you stupid Tunnel Snakes!” Amata yelled.

“Let’s go to the storeroom, so I can show you a real tunnel snake, Amata.” Butch leaned against the wall, prompting Paul and Wally to step forward to make sure she was unable to leave their blockade.

“God, Butch!” She cried out. “Just leave me alone!” Butch reached into one of the pockets of his leather jacket and flipped out his switchblade. “Keep your voice down, daddy’s girl.”

“She ain’t nothin’ but a daddy’s girl, Butch,” Wally smiled and nudged Paul. Together they chanted in sync, “Daddy’s girl, daddy’s girl!”

Amata’s voice was brittle, “You guys are immature assholes.”

“It’s too easy.” Butch smiled at the sight of Amata’s eyes swelling from trying to hold back her tears. “What’s the matter? Daddy’s girl gonna fuckin’ cry. You think you’re special just ‘cause your daddy’s the Overseer?”

“Butch, come here” Ava called his name as she walked down the hall towards the group. Butch pushed himself from the wall and did as she said.

Wally, Paul, and Amata watched from afar as the two stood inches apart from one another. Amata bit her lip and clenched her hands into fists. All she wanted was for Ava not to say anything stupid to prompt Butch to attack her.

When they would stand face to face when they were younger, it seemed like an even playing field since the two were the same height. Though, as they aged, Ava growth ceased and Butch grew tall enough to stand over her.

The two stood so close, Ava could smell the hint of alcohol on his tongue when he open his mouth to say, “If you wanna get closer to me, that’s all you gotta say, girl.”

“Get the fuck away from her.” Ava kept her voice low for only Butch to hear her.

“What’re you willing to do to help your little friend?” Butch moved a little closer so his body could press against Ava slightly. The corners of his lips curled up to form a smile. “Look, we’re not kids anymore, Nosebleed. We ain’t gotta fight. ‘Sides, we both know you’re all bark. No bite. Instead of fightin', I was thinkin’ about you wrapping those pretty, plump lips of yours around my tunnel snake.”

“So basically, do what your mom does to the officers for ration coupons.” Ava sighed. “No thanks.”

Mr. Brotch walked out to the doorway to the classroom. He slapped his hand against the steel Vault wall and said, “Mr. Mack, Mr. Hannon, and Miss Almodovar, in the classroom now,” He stepped outside of the doorway and out to the hall to ensure that the three of them would enter the classroom. “Go on, take a seat.”

“Don’t talk about my mom, you little bitch."

“Mr. DeLoria and Miss Jurado, get to your seats, now!” Butch turned around to see Mr. Brotch standing by the door to the classroom with his arms crossed over his chest.

“We’re not done here.” Butch said as he started his way to the classroom with Ava walking behind him.

Upon entering the classroom, Mr. Brotch went back to the blackboard to finish writing ‘G.O.A.T.’ in large letters. The desks in the room were split into two rows with four desks in each row. In the row on the left side of the room, Wally, Paul, Christine, and Susie sat in their assigned seats. On the right, Butch, Freddie, Amata, and Ava sat at their desks.

“Now… today’s class will be a little short. You’re all are of age to take the G.O.A.T.” Mr. Brotch sighed when he realized no one was paying any attention to what he was saying. Susie and Christine were passing notes back and forth to each other. Wally slouched back in his seat with his eyes closed and behind him, Paul was scribbling in his notebook. Mr. Brotch figured he was writing, “Tunnel Snakes rule”, repeatedly. Ava tapped her nails on the desk, while Amata braided her ponytail. Freddie had his face down on the desk and Butch leaned back in his seat and carved away at his desk with his switchblade. “Fine, I’ll call on someone then… Mr. DeLoria. What do you think the G.O.A.T. is?”

Butch flipped the switchblade shut and glanced towards the teacher. “Mr. Brotch, we both know I don’t know what the hell a G.O.A.T. is.”

“Which is exactly why I need all of you to pay attention. G.O.A.T. stands for Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test, a test that is required of every resident in Vault 101 once they reach the age of sixteen. The purpose of the G.O.A.T. is to decide your job in the Vault.” Mr. Brotch explained.

Amata raised her hand. “When are we taking the test?”

“Today and before you all make a scene, let me explain. This is a multiple choice test and there are no wrong answers. The Overseer didn’t want any of you to know about the test so that you may answer the questions honestly.” Mr. Brotch walked to his desk in the front of the room and grabbed two stacks of papers. He gave half of the papers to Christine and the other to Ava. “Take one and pass it down.”

Christine flipped her test back and forth. “I don’t see any questions on here, only the answers.”

“I’ll be reading them aloud, Miss Kendall.” Mr. Brotch grabbed his own sheet of paper and began to read word for word what was printed on it. “Today you will be taking the 2274 edition of the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test. This test will be the deciding factor in your job placement within Vault 101. During this test, there will be no bathroom breaks, no talking, and you must keep your eyes to yourself… Mr. DeLoria.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Brotch,” Butch gave the teacher a thumbs up.

“Pick the answer that best suits you in the situation. You have forty-five minutes to complete the G.O.A.T. All questions must be answered before you turn your papers in. Any test that fails to be completed will be void and the Overseer shall choose job placement for you. You will be told your job placement as soon as the test is turned in and you are free to leave the classroom once you are done.” Mr. Brotch looked up from his paper. “Any last questions before we begin?”

Butch raised his hand up. “You had to take this test, right, Mr. Brotch? Can I know what answers you put so I won’t end up with your lame ass job?”

Mr. Brotch glanced back down to his paper. “Question one…”

“Okay, don’t answer then.” Butch said.

“Mr. DeLoria, another word out of you and your test will be void.” Mr. Brotch began to read the first question once again. “Question one: You are approached by a frenzied Vault scientist, who yells, “I’m going to put my quantum harmonizer in your photonic resonation chamber.” What’s your response?”

* * *

 

Amata was the first to finish her test. Her loose bun that struggled to stay together on the back of head, bounced with each step she took towards Mr. Brotch’s desk. She held the test close to her chest and said, “I hope I did well,” before giving her exam to Mr. Brotch.

“I’m sure you did just fine,” Mr. Brotch retrieved the test and went over her choices with his answer key. “Very well done, Miss Almodovar, looks like you’ll be following in your father’s footsteps. It’s the supervisory track for you.”

Amata smiled and thanked Mr. Brotch. She walked down the aisle where Ava was seated to whisper in her ear, “I’ll wait for you outside.”

Paul and Christine were the next two to finish their tests. Paul adjusted his leather jacket as he walked over to the teacher’s desk and gently placed the test in front of Mr. Brotch. “I’m all done, Mr. Brotch…. I guess.”

“You sound unsure of yourself.” Mr. Brotch didn’t pick up his test, yet.

Paul thought for a moment. “Uh… wait a second. Can I have it back? I think I need to change one of my answers."

“Calm down a minute, Paul. I’m sure you have nothing to worry about.” Mr. Brotch assured him.

Paul took a deep breath. “If you say so…”

“Let’s see…” Mr. Brotch looked over the answers. “…Okay, just as I thought. You’re slated for the engineering track. Congratulations, Mr. Hannon.”

Paul lit up. “Hey, that’s not so bad. Engineering sounds cool.”

“All right, Miss Kendall, you’re up.” Mr. Brotch gestured for her to come over to his desk.

“Mother can’t wait to find out if I’ll be going into Science or Home Economics.” Christine passed her exam to the teacher.

“Science… um… well, perhaps. Let’s see what the G.O.A.T. says.” Mr. Brotch gave Christine a small smile and then lowered his head to check her test. His assuring smile slowly diminished the longer he stared at her results.

“I got Home Economics, didn’t I?” Christine asked excitedly.

“Well, Miss Kendall… you’ll be going into the maintenance department. I hope your mother will be pleased. I’m sure Stanley will be.”

Christine’s heart dropped. “What? That’s impossible! I… I… have to go.”

“Watch it!” Butch yelled when Christine nearly bumped into him as she ran out of the classroom. “Yo, teach, I’m done.”

“Ah, Butch, can I admit that I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time? Allow me to savor the moment.” Mr. Brotch took Butch’s G.O.A.T. and leaned back into his chair as he looked over the results.

“Yeah, savor these last few moments Mr. Brotch ‘cause when I’m Overseer, you’re gonna be demoted to trash burner.” Mr. Brotch held Butch’s test close to his face to cover his ear to ear grin, but no matter how hard he tried to hold it in, he couldn’t contain his laugh that echoed throughout the entire classroom. Butch slammed his hands on Mr. Brotch’s desk. “What’re you laughing for?”

Ava finished her test and walked over to the desk where Butch was.

“Y-you…” Mr. Brotch could barely say a word without laughing, so he gave the results to Butch for him to see for himself.

Butch snatched the paper from his hand and skimmed through what it said. “What the hell… hairdresser…this is bullshit! You’re so full of it! That isn’t true!”

Mr. Brotch calmed down his joy to say, “You surprised me, Butch. I didn’t think you had it in you. Hairdresser!”

“You’re a liar!” Butch threw the test in the air and leaned against the wall by Mr. Brotch’s desk.

“You can leave now, Mr. DeLoria,” Mr. Brotch said as Ava handed him her test.

“I wanna know what she got. I know this test is rigged if she’s workin’ in the lab with her daddy.” Butch crossed his hands over his chest and waited to hear Ava’s results.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you do go into the medical department, Ava.” Mr. Brotch proceeded to look over her results. Once he was finished, he looked back to her with a large smile. “Looks like the diner’s going to get a new fry cook. I’ll say this once: hold the mustard, extra pickles.”


	2. The Great Pretender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after the song by The Platters

Shards of glass flew in the air when the bottle smashed into the wall. Butch clasped his hands over his head to shield himself, but a few shards managed to cut him as they fell to floor. “Mom, please!”

Ellen DeLoria stumbled over to the miniature fridge in their apartment for another bottle of vodka. The fading beauty groaned at the sight of one bottle left in the fridge. She unscrewed the cap to the alcohol and threw it at Butch. When it missed, she stormed over to him and splashed some of her vodka on him. “You have the nerve to tell me how to fucking live, you’re a failure! Hairdresser! What a joke? If you knew your damn father, he’d be fucking embarrassed. A son who’s a fucking hairdresser! Go do something useful for once in your life and get some more drinks.”

Butch’s voice lowered, “You spent all the coupons.”

“What? Speak up!” Miss DeLoria ordered.

“You spent all the coupons on-”

Miss DeLoria threw her vodka to the floor and placed both hands on Butch’s chest to push him towards to door to their apartment. “Get out! Don’t come back!”

Once the sliding door to their apartment lifted, Miss DeLoria shoved Butch through the doorway. He watched as the last bit of light emerging from the apartment diminish and finally it was gone. The Overseer set the curfew at ten. When it reached that hour, the hall lights in the Vault were shut off. Due to that, Butch was surrounded by utter darkness and had to use the flashlight on his Pip-Boy to navigate through the halls.

He decided to go to the diner. He figured sleeping in one of the booth seats was better than going to the clinic to sleep on a gurney only to run into Dr. Jurado working late again. He turned off the flashlight to his Pip-Boy once the automatic fluorescent light of diner nearly blinded him when the door slid open. Butch claimed the first booth he found in the room. As he lied on the red cushioned, he wished for his leather jacket. It could’ve been his blanket had he grabbed it before his mother kicked him out of the apartment.

* * *

 

Instead of attending class, the students all had to do training for their future jobs in the Vault every other day for the rest of the week. Ava’s job as a fry cook meant waking up to an alarm at five in the morning. It was the same time Maintenance went to their job, so she had to be up as well to clean the diner, take inventory, and have food prepared for whoever walked in.

When she entered the diner, Ava noticed a puddle of Nuka-Cola on the floor next to one of the booths. She walked over to find a near empty bottle held loosely by the hand of a sleeping Butch DeLoria. Open cans of Cram and empty bags of potato crisps laid across the table and some of the trash fell on the floor. The pungent smell of alcohol stained his clothes and his usually gelled up hair fell down to cover his forehead.

“Butch,” Ava called his name and shook him until his eyes slowly peered open. “Christ, you need a shower.”

Butch scrunched his nose and yawned, but nearly choked from the strong odor on his clothes. There were potato crisp crumbs coating the lower half of his face and small pieces of Cram stuck in the corners of his mouth. “Shit…” He cursed under his breath.

“You do realize you have to pay for that.” Ava began picking up the trash from the table.

Butch sighed. “I don’t have the coupons.”

“Should’ve thought about that before you ransacked the kitchen,” Ava tossed the trash into the bin near the entrance of the diner.

“Can’t you just let it slide?” Butch asked.

“Or what, you’re gonna send Nosebleed home to daddy with some wounds for him to stitch up?” She expected for Butch to respond after she mocked one of his threats, but to Ava’s surprise he didn’t say a word. She walked over to the storage closet in the back of the diner. “Why are you here anyways?”

“Don’t you have some dishes to wash? Leave me alone.” Butch began to lower his head, but jumped at the sound of something slamming down on the table next to him. He looked over to see Ava holding out a mop for him to take. “What the hell do you want?”

“You said you don’t have the ration coupons to pay for what you ate and you made a mess that I’m sure as hell not cleaning.” Ava let go of the mop, causing it to hit the table and fall to the floor.

Butch slowly lifted up from the booth and knelt down to pick up the mop. Before he could ask for a bucket of water, Ava already filled one up and sat it next to him; while she went on to wipe down the rest of the booth seats and tables. He drenched the mop into the soapy water and splattered the mop to the dirty floor. It was the simplest job, but Butch had a hard time cleaning up the spilled cola. Instead of cleaning, he was swishing around the water and soda to the rest of the diner floor.

“Nose… Ava,” He called her name. “You’re a fry cook, right?”

“You already know. You stayed in class to hear my G.O.A.T. results.” Ava made her way to the front of the diner where the bulletin board was.

There were fliers posted on the board about bingo night, a notice to Vault residents to keep the bathrooms clean, Beatrice’s offer for psychic services at her apartment, and the old baseball schedule from six months ago. Baseball used to be played in the Atrium, but the game has been banned by the Overseer ever since Wally accidentally struck Stanley in his head when he was practicing his batting.

“Figured you’d be a doctor like your dad,” Butch stopped mopping and watched Ava as she tossed the baseball schedule into the trash can next to the diner entrance. “He disappointed with your job?”

“The fewer questions you ask, the faster you’ll clean, and we’ll be away from each other.” Ava said.

Butch threw the mop to the floor and stepped over the large wet puddle he made. “I was leavin’ anyway, Nosebleed.”

Ava leaned on one of the barstools near the entrance and watched as Butch made his way out of the diner. He tapped his finger on his Pip-Boy until the screen lit up a bright green hue. His Pip-Boy was out of shape and needed to be fixed, but he didn’t bother going to Stanley because he knew he didn’t have enough coupons to pay for the service. He flipped the switch located in the right corner of the device until he reached the data page. There was an unopened note from Mr. Brotch that had the details for everyone’s job in the Vault. It read:

_Attention students, every day for the rest of the school week you shall be reporting to your assigned jobs within Vault 101, as per your results of the G.O.A.T. You are to check in to the following locations and check out at the following times stated below. Some will have to check in with a supervisor and others will use their Pip-Boy to check in. That will also be stated below._

_Amata Almodovar: Overseer Office 7:00AM – 3:00PM Check in with the Overseer_

_Butch DeLoria: Common Lounge 11:00AM – 7:00PM Check in with Beatrice Armstrong_

_Freddie Gomez: Exempt_

_Paul Hannon Jr.: Reactor Room 5:00AM – 1:00PM Check in with Stanley Armstrong_

_Ava Jurado: Diner 5:00AM – 5:00PM Check in on your Pip-Boy_

_Christine Kendall: Reactor Room 5:00AM – 1:00PM Check in with Stanley Armstrong_

_Susie Mack: Classroom 8:00AM – 4:00PM Check in with Edwin Brotch_

_Walter Mack: Security 7:00AM – 3:00PM Check in with Chief Officer Hannon_

_You will be graded on your job performance. Remember, this training is not only for a grade, but it will give you the experience needed for your future in the Vault._

Butch lowered his Pip-Boy. He stood beside the wall outside of the diner and looked through the window to see inside. He watched Ava mop up the mess he made. She was turned away from him, so he couldn’t get a good look at her.

“What ‘cha looking at, Butch?” Butch turned around to see Paul behind him. His fellow Tunnel Snake was dressed in a grey utility jumpsuit with his name written in red cursive over his heart.

“Nothin’,” Butch casually leaned on the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.

Paul waved his hand in front of his nose. “ _Phew_ , man, you need a shower.”

“So I’ve been told.” Butch raised his right brow. “Where you headed, Paulie?”

“The Reactor, I got an engineering job.” Paul said.

Butch smiled and lightly dabbed Paul in the shoulder with his fist. “Good for you, man. You’ve always been into building things.”

Paul smiled. “I know. I was nervous takin’ that test. Thought I’d end up a trash burner or… an officer like my dad. So, what’d you get?”

“Me… nothin’ special,” Butch shrugged his shoulders. “I’m a barber.”

“That’s not so bad. Maybe I can come by your shop after work, get a haircut.” Paul said.

“Free of charge for my fellow Tunnel Snake.” Butch patted Paul’s back. “Get to work, I’ll see you later.”

“See you, Butch.” Paul walked a few steps further down the hall and took a left to get to the reactor room.

Butch checked the time on his Pip-Boy. There was still six hours until his shift began as a hairdresser. He decided to go back to his apartment for his clothes to change into after he showered. He figured his mother would either be passed out on the sofa or sitting on the floor with sweat dripping down her face as she threw up in a trash can. Once he finally reached the front door, Butch could hear a rough voice from inside. What they were saying was muffled by the steel walls, but he figured it was one the radio from his mother’s Pip-Boy. She usually played it loud during her morning hang-overs so no one in the Vault could hear her throwing up.

When he opened the door to the apartment, Butch saw his mother knelt down on the floor in front of the couch where Officer O’Brian sat with his legs slightly spread apart. His bulletproof vest and both of their jumpsuits were piled up on the floor by the empty vodka bottles. His head was tilted back and his mouth parted wider with every groan he made. His hands wrapped tightly around Miss DeLoria’s short blonde hair as her head bobbed up and down. “Fuck do you want, kid?”

Butch didn’t realize the officer was talking to him until they locked eyes. Butch swallowed the saliva that built up in his mouth. “I need my clothes.” Butch shielded his eyes as he hurried to his dresser to get another jumpsuit and his leather jacket.

“Don’t gotta look away, kid. It’s about time you know how you’re mom gets food on the table.” Officer O’Brian looked down to Miss DeLoria. “It’s better when she’s not hung-over, but… we all gotta make sacrifices, huh?

* * *

 

He wasn’t going back home and he figured Ava would kick him out of the diner, so Butch decided to go clean up and change in the showers and then wait for the hours to roll by inside the common lounge. It used to be the cigar lounge, but the name was changed after all of the pre-War cigars ran out. There wasn’t much in the lounge. In the center was a billiards table. There was a sofa and a few chairs that sat by a jukebox. In the back there was a large mirror on the wall, two black hairdresser chairs, and a shelf on the wall where all of the hairdresser tools neatly sat.

Butch sat in one of the chairs and napped to pass the time, but he was awoken by the sound of a woman’s voice. He slowly opened his eyes to see a pair of dark brown eyes, which belonged to Beatrice Armstrong, staring down at him. Her red lips smiled as she repeatedly called his name to wake him up.

“I’m up…” Butch groaned. He stretched his body as he lifted up from the chair. “…I’m up.”

“Good. I’m so excited to be able to work with you.” Beatrice rested her hands on Butch’s shoulders and pulled him in for a tight hug. She was one of the tallest women in the Vault, easily standing over Butch. He could smell a hint of perfume in her short, greying blonde hair that she styled into wavy side-part. She took a breath of air as she and Butch parted from each other. “How has your mother been? I heard she's been talking about getting sober.”

"She never told me that." Butch looked around the barber station. “So, what do we do here?”

“We wait for whoever needs a haircut. Since everyone is busy training all of you, I’m sure they won’t come in. So, we can take this time to relax.” Beatrice sat in the other chair. “What do you think of Edwin?”

“Mr. Brotch?"

“A good-looking, intelligent man like that, it’s hard to believe he’s sing…” Beatrice’s voice trailed off when she saw who had entered the common longue. Butch glanced over to see who Beatrice had lifted out of seat to greet. Entering the room he saw the older man with greying brown hair. His eyes were worn out with crow’s feet pulling at his aging skin. “Well, if it isn’t the Overseer. How are you, sir?”

The Overseer looked past Beatrice and gestured for Butch to come over. “I need to have a word with you, Mr. DeLoria.”

Butch got up from the chair and followed the Overseer outside of the common longue and into the men’s restroom. There was no one else inside, except for the two of them. Butch questioned the area he chose to speak with him in, but understood after the Overseer said that he couldn’t risk Beatrice eavesdropping on their conversation.

The Overseer sighed, “For the sake of the Vault, I need you and your gang of delinquents for a service…”

* * *

 

The Overseer excused Paul and Wally from their jobs to meet with Butch outside of reception room in the upper level of the Vault. They were all dressed in their signature leather jackets and were armed with weapons. Paul and Wally both had baseball bats, while Butch carried his own switchblade. When they entered the reception room, they saw Jonas Palmer sitting at his desk, sorting through files. They ignored the man when he greeted them and Wally was the first to strike him with a bat across his face. Butch grabbed him by the collar of his lab coat and pulled him to the ground. He lied there for the next ten minutes as they kicked him and hit him repeatedly with the bats. Butch grabbed his files on the desk and sliced his switchblade through each paper. Once Butch was finished they started to leave the room, but before they left Wally stomped his foot down on Jonas’s glasses before he could reach them to put them back on.

The group traveled down the stairs to the lower level and made their way to the diner. They didn’t see anyone in the room, but they could hear someone inside the pantry that was located behind the bar. Butch led the trio to the back where they found Ava restocking bottles of Nuka-Cola on the pantry shelf. Butch leaned on the doorway of the pantry and whistled to get her attention.

“What the hell do you want?” She asked without turning to face them.

“Come on, boys, we have to show her daddy a lesson.” Wally tapped his baseball bat against the wall. Ava placed the Nuka-Cola in her hand on the shelf before finally turning around.

“Butch, you and your little followers need to leave.” “Or else you’ll call security?”

Wally stepped further into the pantry. “I am security, now.”

“Good for you.” Ava’s smile lasted less than a second. “You want a medal?”

“And I’m not a follower. I run this gang!” Wally yelled.

Butch huffed at Wally’s notion, but chose to stay silent rather than argue over who was in charge. Wally gripped his baseball bat with one hand. His other hand shoved Ava hard enough to push her against the pantry shelves. Nuka-Cola fell from the shelves and shattered on the floor. Ava felt the wind knock out of her after Wally swung his baseball bat into her gut. Paul loosened his hold on his bat and took a step back from the pantry as he watched Wally throw his bat to the floor in order to grab Ava by her throat.

“That’s enough…” Butch left the doorway to grab Wally’s shoulder. “I said that’s enough!”

“Shut the fuck up, Butch!” Wally threw Ava to the ground and shrugged Butch from his shoulder. He turned around and shoved Butch out of the pantry. He brought his attention back to Ava when he heard her struggling to catch her breath. He pulled her up to her feet by her hair, dragged her out of the pantry, and into the main room of the diner, with Butch and Paul hesitantly following them. Wally barked at Paul, “Keep watch outside! Take Butch with you!”

Paul swallowed the saliva that overflowed in his mouth. He grabbed Butch by his arm and together they left the diner to stand outside of the steel door once it closed. Paul’s fingers shook as he turned on his Pip-Boy to distract himself. Butch clenched his hands into tight fists. He glanced through the window to see what was happening. He could see Wally slam Ava’s back down on one of the booth tables. He forcibly spread her legs apart to stand in between them. There wasn’t a clear view of Ava’s face. It was blocked by the booth seat, though Butch could still see Wally unzipping her jumpsuit, as well as slightly zipping down his own. Wally had a smirk on his face that quickly returned to an expression of pure rage. Butch turned away as soon as Wally raised his fist in the air.


	3. V.S.C.

They were identical in their situations. Both single fathers caring for their teenage daughters who lost their mothers before they ever had the chance to meet them. Both stressed from the pressures of the Vault. One set order, the other cared for the weak. Their roles weren't the same, but they were both subject to jaded eyes and fatigue.

"Out of my way," James said to two security guards, Officer Stevie Mack and Officer Wilkins, who stood watch in front of the Overseer's office.

"The Overseer isn't taking any visitors today." Wilkins said.

James forced himself between the guards to bang on the steel door. "Open the door now!"

"Step away!" Wilkins grabbed James and pulled him away from the door that slowly began to rise.

The Overseer stepped into the doorway with his hands laced together behind his back. "Let him in." He ordered Wilkins.

"Sir," Wilkins nodded his head once and let go of James.

James adjusted the sleeve of his lab coat and walked into the Overseer's office. Located on the upper level, the Overseer's office was one of the largest rooms within the Vault. There was a circular window that allowed the Overseer to view the atrium. There wasn't much inside of the office besides a desk, the Overseer's personal terminal, and a map of the entire Vault.

"You wished to speak to me?" The Overseer asked.

"You sick bastard," James grit his teeth. "Jonas is lying in the clinic, blind and bloodied to a pulp and Mrs. Palmer found my daughter on the floor of the diner, bruised and beaten."

"It is your job to care for the residents of this Vault. I suggest you tend to their injuries, Doctor Jurado."

"I've sent several complaints through the years telling you about those boys. Yet, you continuously sat around and did nothing to-"

"I go to great lengths to ensure the safety of all of my residents," The Overseer raised his voice. "Tell me James, have you thought for a minute that this was your fault."

"You-"

"Ah," The Overseer slightly raised one hand in the air as a signal for James to stop. "I've ordered you on several occasions to cease all of your experiments and focus on the health of the Vault residents. I had the Vault loyalty inspector specifically search your apartment, office, as well as Jonas Palmer's apartment and desk in the reception room. Low and behold, we came across documents of your experiments stowed away within Palmer's filing cabinet. Think of Jonas and your daughter's injuries the next time you decide to go against my order. If that was all, please see yourself out of my office."

* * *

The security headquarters of the Vault was a small room on the upper level down the hall from the Overseer's office. There was nothing inside except for a large jail cell and two desks. One sat in the left corner with a computer terminal on top of it. The other sat in the right corner and was littered with paperwork. Wally Mack and his older brother, Officer Stevie Mack, were the only two inside of the security headquarters. The other officers were out on early morning patrol and Chief Hannon was requested by the Overseer to pay him a visit at his office.

The Mack brothers resembled one another so much that one could forget they weren't twins and had a seven year age difference. They both had the same piercing blue eyes, gruff voice, and condescending attitude towards their peers in the Vault. Though, Stevie was arrogant in his belief that he was the best officer, he was submissive and willing to do anything to prove himself to Chief Hannon. "Whatever the Chief tells you do, you follow his orders." That was the first word of advice Stevie gave to Wally on his initial day of training.

Wally stood behind the chair his older brother sat in. He studied how Stevie worked the terminal step-by-step. "So the terminal is the only way you can unlock the cell?" Wally asked.

"No one can get in the cell without the terminal and if you ever find your ass locked in there you can't get out without the terminal." Stevie clicked on an unopened message left by Chief Hannon. "How was it yesterday?"

"It was cool with you, but when I had to go with Gomez and Taylor it was hell."

"Not that. I'm talking about Palmer and the doctor's daughter. It felt good, didn't it?" Stevie could see the reflection of Wally's smiling face through the terminal screen. "I know that it's fun, but if you're planning on rising through the ranks in security, don't expect to get too many orders to do favors for the Overseer. It's been years since I've been able to get my hands dirty."

Wally looked down to his Pip-Boy to check the time. "I gotta get to class." He walked over to one of the lockers to get his leather jacket and started his way out of the security room, but stopped at the doorway when his brother called his name.

"If you're trying to be a respected officer, you better shed that Tunnel Snake skin fast. Paul is fine since he's the Chief's boy, but you being associated with that other dumbass friend of yours isn't doing you any favors."

* * *

Butch was able to sleep in the apartment last night. Yesterday his mother had passed out on the couch in the middle of the day and managed to stay in deep sleep even after his alarm clock buzzed relentlessly until he pulled himself out of bed to get ready for class in the morning.

He felt like himself again once he dressed in his leather jacket he layered over his jumpsuit and slicked his wavy hair into a pompadour with an ample amount of hair gel. Even though his mother made a few ration coupons for the favor she did for Officer O'Brian, he didn't bother taking them to get hair gel knowing he could just take some from his barber station for free.

On his way to class, Butch saw Wally walking down the fluorescent lit hall. He was wearing his Tunnel Snake jacket as well, but underneath the jacket he wore a bulletproof vest just as the rest of the security did in the Vault. Butch waited for Wally to catch up with him before he continued his walk to class.

"That was fun yesterday," Wally rested his arm around Butch's shoulder.

"I think you took it too far, man." Butch thought.

"Says the guy who beat her up on her birthday for a damn sweetroll," Wally reminded him.

"It looked like it went too far. That's all I'm sayin'."

"Why're you so worried about her? Nothin' happened, DeLoria." Wally smiled. "All I did was rough her up a but and got a little peek at her, that's all."

The girl they were speaking of was outside of the classroom being held in Amata's arms. Butch could see Amata whisper something into Ava's ear when she noticed the two boys approaching them. The girls loosened their hug, but remained holding each other's hand as they walked into the classroom.

"Those assholes make me sick." Amata frowned in disgust. The girls sat in their assigned seats. Ava turned around in her seat to face Amata as they talked. Amata slightly shook her head as she studied the bruise that formed underneath Ava's left eye and the small scratch marks that were imprinted on her neck. "If I were the Overseer I would've tossed them out of the Vault when they were kids. Then we'd never have to deal with the Tunnel Snakes."

"Or maybe we could leave the Vault ourselves."

"Remember when our dream was to break out of the Vault when we were little? To see what was on the outside. Our dads were so pissed at us. What did my dad tell us?" Amata squint her eyes as she thought.

"We're born in the Vault, we die in the Vault." Ava remembered.

"Mr. DeLoria, Mr. Mack get inside the classroom." Ava turned around to sit in her desk correctly when she heard Mr. Brotch voice. He walked to the front of the classroom and waited for the two boys to go to their desk. "Take your seats, we have a presentation. I want you all quiet and giving them your full attention." Once all of the seats were occupied by the students, Mr. Brotch called for Amata, Christine, and Susie to go to the front of the room before he took a seat at his own desk.

Susie grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote, V.S.C. on the blackboard. Amata pointed to the acronym and said, "The Vault Student Council was created to share the ideas of us youth and allow us activities and social events in the Vault... with the permission of the Overseer, of course."

Susie chimed in, "Inspiration for the Council came from an old pre-War yearbook we found in the Vault six years ago. If you thought the last of October was any other day, you're wrong. There was a holiday called Halloween where people would dress up in costumes. Some were scary, others were funny, and some were a bit provocative. Candy would be passed out and there would be costume contests."

Amata added, "December 25th is usually when Old Lady Palmer bakes us all her delicious, signature sweetrolls. Well, before the Great War, families would come together to celebrate a holiday called Christmas. They'd gather around a beautiful evergreen tree that was decorated with ornaments, lights, and a star on top. Underneath the tree were presents, made by a man named Santa Claus. He lived in this place called the North Pole and he'd travel to every home in a sleigh powered by flying reindeers. He'd climb down the chimney of the home and deliver the presents to you if you're good, but if you've been bad you get a lump of coal."

"Looks like Christine's getting coal for Christmas." Wally joked about his cousin under his breath. It was a known fact around the Vault that Christine has slept around with some of the boys and an officer in the Vault. Wally heard about all the stories at his home where his mother, Gloria, and his aunt, Beatrice, would gossip about their niece. 

Christine smiled, "Besides that, we've also read about dances the teenagers would have inside of their gymnasiums and one of the most special dances was called prom, a formal event held at the end of the year. Girls would dress in beautiful elegant dresses and men would put on their best suit. There would be a dinner and dancing."

Amata wrapped up their presentation with, "These are some of the few things that we'd want to celebrate in the Vault. It would give us a chance to become closer as a community and let us have a bit of fun. Of course, if there's a council there needs to be people taking leadership. We thought about doing a vote, but ultimately it became clear that we all wanted different roles: Council Secretary, Susie Mack, Council Vice-President Christine Kendall, me, Amata Almodovar, as Council President, and all of you, the creative youth of the Vault that will be a part of changing our community for the better."

"Thank you, ladies." Mr. Brotch said as he got back up from his desk just as the girls returned to their seats. "Now, we're going to do a new activity, in which you will need a partner."

"All right," Paul exclaimed and turned around in his seat fist bump Wally.

"Don't get too happy Mr. Hannon. I will be choosing your partners." Mr. Brotch partnered the students by the alphabetical order of their last names. Amata and Butch were paired together. Paul would've been partnered with Freddie, but Freddie was excused from the class by James just as the activity was going to begin, so Paul joined Ava and Christine's group. The last group formed was made up of the two siblings, Susie and Wally.

"Mr. Brotch is a big fat liar. I know for a fact that I'm not supposed to be in the maintenance department. It's ludicrous. I should be a scientist, a doctor, a teacher, but I'm stuck in the lower level of the Vault, burning garbage." Christine kept her voice low for only Paul and Ava hear her.

The groups sat with their desks put together in different areas of the classroom. Paul, Ava, and Christine were closest to Mr. Brotch's desk, where the teacher was flipping through a copy of one of Vault-Tec's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. pamphlets. The purpose of the activity was for the students to tell each other about their first day of job training, something the majority of them weren't doing at all.

Near the classroom entrance, Butch and Amata sat with their desk pushed together."I wish you and your stupid Tunnel Snakes could leave the Vault and die from whatever radioactive beast is lurking on the outside."

"I didn't lay a hand on your little girlfriend." Butch leaned back in his seat.

"I's not like you were the guy whose been pushing her around since we were kids. So, of course, I believe you Butch."

A sleazy smirk formed on Butch's face. "We were just havin' a little fun."

"If that's your idea of fun, you need help. Mr. Brotch," Amata called for him.

"Mr. Brotch, Butch is being mean to me." Butch strained his vocal chords in his attempt to make his voice higher-pitched to mock Amata.

Amata rolled her eyes and called for Mr. Brotch one more time. The teacher looked up from his pamphlet to see what she wanted. "May I go to the bathroom?"

"Go ahead, Miss Almodovar. Christine, can you partner with Butch for now?"

Paul kept his eyes down, focused on his hands in his lap when he and Ava were left together. "...uh, sorry about your face." His eyes grew and he began to talk faster, "Not, like, your face... but what... uh, what Wally did to your face, because, uh..."

"I get it." Ava rested her head on her hand.

"I know we, uh, give you a hard time, but you don't take it seriously, right?" He asked.

Ava ignored Paul and glanced off to the distance until Mr. Brotch announced that they would switch partners. Christine was now with Wally, Susie partnered with Paul, Amata was put in Susie's group once she returned, and Butch was paired with Ava.

Butch glanced to the blackboard to see some of the example questions Mr. Brotch wrote for them to ask. "What was the most challenging part of your first day of job training?" He read aloud and then looked over to Ava."So what was it?"

"Walking after I got beaten by the fucking Tunnel Snakes." Ava lied her head down on the desk.

"Yet you still have the energy to say shit like that," Butch tapped on his desk. "Did it hurt?"

Ava lifted up her head. She used the rubber band on her wrist to pull her hair up into a ponytail. It gave Butch a full view of the marks Wally left on her face. "What do you think?"

"Can't you ever answer a question?"

Ava rested her chin in her hand again, "Can't you figure out that I don't wanna talk to you?"

"I'm tryin' to be nice."

Ava's eyebrows furrowed. "You have to kidding me."

"What do want me to do then?"

"I want you to leave me alone."

Mr. Brotch decided to end class early to give the students time to prepare themselves for their job training they had the next day. Together, Ava and Amata left to relax at Amata's apartment. The Almodovar's apartment was most likely the biggest in the entire Vault. There was a large living room when you entered the living quarters and there were three different doors. One led to the Overseer's bedroom, the other to their personal bathroom, and the last door was to Amata's room, where the girls walked inside.

Amata threw herself on her bed and buried her face into a pillow that muffled her voice when she said, "I want this week to be over with."

"The job is that bad?" Ava asked as she sat on the bed beside Amata.

"It's not the job," Amata sat up only to adjust herself to lie down across Ava's lap. "It's my... he's not even a dad anymore, he's just the Overseer. I wanted to use this opportunity of job training to get close to him and be able to talk to him, but all he does is lecture me about putting the Vault before my "trivial" feelings. Sometimes it feels like he doesn't trust me."

"You told me he goes to all your examinations at the clinic; I'd be surprised if he did trust you."

Ava was going to say more, but Amata shushed her at the sound of footsteps entering the apartment. Amata sat upright as the door to her bedroom squealed open. "You could at least knock." She said to her father, who stood in the doorway.

"I tell you time and time again Amata; there are no closed doors in this house." The Overseer programmed the controls to the door for it to stay open.

Amata stood up, "Is privacy too much to ask for?"

The way the Overseer glared at her made Ava get up from the bed. On her way out of the apartment she told Amata that she would talk to her another time. Ava decided to go to the clinic to spend the rest of her day with Jonas and her father, rather than be alone inside of her apartment skimming through old pre-War novels or the same Grognak comic for the thousandth time.

Inside of the clinic, Stanley Armstrong sat in one of the chairs waiting to be attended to. The older man had his head lowered and rubbed his fingers in a circular motion on his temple. Talking to Jonas by her father's office was Freddie Gomez. The young boy had dark circles rested underneath his sunken eyes and his unwashed jumpsuit couldn't hide his small weight gain. He hadn't slept for days and never took care of himself. His breath smelled of Cram and his teeth were covered by a white film. Jonas was patched up with bandages. His glasses were still damaged though and were repaired slightly by tape.

"Take one in the morning and one before bed," Jonas handed Freddie a bottle of pills.

"Alphonse was always like this," Lucy "Old Lady" Palmer said. She sat on the examination bed in the office across from James, who sat at his desk. "He never liked for anyone to say anything about what's outside of the Vault. Which is the most likely reason he isn't too fond of you James."

"No one enters and no one leaves," James recited the Overseer's policy. "We live and die here knowing there are people outside of this Vault that need our help."

Lucy lifted up from the examination bed. She made her way beside James and rested her wrinkled hand on his shoulder. "I know that you mean well James, but tread carefully. Not for your work, but... for Jonas and your daughter."

Lucy pressed the button to the office door making it open. She lightly touched Jonas's shoulder when she walked passed him as a way to say goodbye without interrupting his talk with Freddie. Her thin lips curled up into a small smile when she noticed Ava sitting in one of the waiting chairs by Stanley. Ava had her Pip-Boy removed from her wrist and held it over to Stanley to inspect.

"There's internal damage if it's not turning on by now." Stanley tapped the dark Pip-Boy screen repeatedly to no success. "What'd you to it, Ava?"

"It got hit with a baseball bat." Ava briefly explained.

"Ava," She looked over to the direction where she heard her name called. Coming towards her and Stanley was Lucy Palmer. Lucy was one of the oldest Vault residents besides Officer Taylor and his wife Agnes. As a retired resident, free of any Vault duties, Lucy was able to spend her days relaxing in her apartment, going around the Vault to talk with the other residents, or bake her Vault 101 renowned sweetrolls.

"Hi, Mrs. Palmer," Ava greeted her.

"Your dad told me you work in the diner now. You know, I used to have your job years ago, when you were in diapers." Lucy stepped closer to Ava. Her fragile hands gently stroked through Ava's hair. You should cut you hair. It'll stay out of your way when you cook"

* * *

The next morning Ava took Old Lady Palmer's advice. She spent the first six hours of her day waxing the floors of the diner, finishing inventory, and lying in one of the booths for time to pass by. By eleven she made her way to the common longue where Beatrice flipped through the songs in the jukebox and Butch slowly spun around in one of the barber chairs. She finally settled on playing an entire playlist of the The Platters.

"Hi, sweetheart," Beatrice stood upright and walked to Ava with arms wide open to hug her, but once they were close to one another she lowered one arm and reached the other out to touch the purple bruise under her eye. "What happened to your face?"

Butch turned his chair away from the women after hearing Beatrice's question.

Ava diverted her question by asking one of her own. "How much is a haircut?"

"For you, sweetie, the first cut is free. Butch," Beatrice called for him.

"I want you to do it." Ava said to Beatrice.

"Oh, okay follow me." Beatrice led Ava to the chair beside the one Butch sat in. Ava took a seat and Beatrice draped a black nylon cape over her. Beatrice took her place behind the chair and turned the chair or Ava to see herself in the mirror. "What did you come for today again, babe?"

"Just a haircut," Ava answered. "I don't have a style in mind."

Beatrice smiled. "Don't worry, I'll make it beautiful." Butch was tasked with sweeping up the locks of hair that Beatrice cut from Ava's head. Her hair was to her back, but once Beatrice was done cutting, Ava's hair was barely above her shoulders. Beatrice asked Ava to get up from the chair and follow her to the bathroom where she washed her hair using one of the sinks. "I asked the Overseer to have a sink installed in the lounge weeks ago, but he still hasn't gotten back to me about that." Beatrice said as she and Ava walked back to the lounge.

Water from her soaked hair dripped down Ava's neck and seeped underneath her jumpsuit. She sat back down in the chair. Beatrice grabbed a wide-tooth comb and parted Ava's hair to the right. She coated her fingers in hair gel and curled her bangs. Then she set the rest of her hair in pin curls. While she waited for Ava's hair to set, Beatrice retrieved a box from underneath her work station.

"What's that?" Ava asked.

"Preserved pre-War makeup," Beatrice removed the top of the box and grabbed one of the foundations. "We could cover up those bruises."

"Wrote any new poems lately?" Ava asked as Beatrice began to apply the correct foundation of Ava's skin tone to her face.

"Actually, I'm writing poems for everyone in the Vault." Beatrice set the foundation with a powder. "So far I gave Lucy hers and I just finished Edwin's and yours." Foundation alone was enough to cover Ava's bruise. Beatrice finished off the makeup with a winged liner, a coat of mascara, and red lipstick. Beatrice stepped away from Ava to let her look at herself in the mirror. "What do you think? I didn't do any eyeshadow, but it still looks nice."

"...um," Ava thought for a moment. "I look like those girls on those pre-War Nuka-Cola posters in the diner. Not that it looks bad, or anything."

"I think you look cute. This was the style of makeup they wore back then. Those women were the Nuka-Cola pinups." Beatrice walked behind the chair and began to unravel Ava's pin curls. She combed out her hair, applied products inside, and proceeded to brush Ava's hair to give the curls a softer appearance. "Wait here, doll. I'm going to go get the poem I wrote for you from my apartment."

Beatrice removed the cape from Ava and hung it back on the coat rack with the others.

Butch stopped sweeping. He looked up to see Ava in the mirror. "You look nice." She didn't acknowledge him. Instead, she flipped her hair to the other side, then back to right, and finally settling on parting her hair down the middle. Then she rummaged through Beatrice's makeup box to find wipes that would strip the makeup from her face.

"You mind not speaking to me and doing your job," Ava balled up the wipe once she was finished with it and tossed it into the small wastebasket by the vanity.

"Do you hate me, or something?" Butch asked.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but you need to leave me the hell alone."

"Fine," Butch conceded. "...but can you just answer one thing? Do you ever wonder what your mother was like or miss her?"

"That's two ques... whatever." Ava sighed, "Sometimes I wonder about her and think what would change if she was here, but I don't miss her. I never met her, so there's nothing to really miss."

"But your dad talks about her a lot, right?" Butch asked. 

"He used to, but now he only does if I ask." Ava said.

"Here's your poem, Ava!" Beatrice's voice filled the entire lounge. She handed Ava the folded piece of paper. "I hope you love it."


	4. This Charming Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after the song by The Smiths.

_He didn't like it, but by ten years old Butch had gotten used to his mother leaving him alone in the apartment while she spent drunken nights in the common lounge, singing incoherently to any song that played on the jukebox._

_The garishly decorated apartment was in disarray. Empty bottles of beer and vodka piled up in a corner. Fallen cigarette ashes stuck to the soles of Butch feet as he walked in darkness to the off-white sofa in the middle of the apartment. The cushions of the sofa, as well as the floor beneath the coffee table where his mother left her Pip-Boy, were stained with alcohol. He held tightly onto a leather jacket, which he used as a blanket once he lied on the sofa to sleep._

_He wasn't sleep for long when he was woken up by the sound of glasses bottles rolling on the floor. Butch lifted up and rubbed at his tired eyes. "Mom," He called out tiredly. When there was no response, he lied back down and closed his eyes, but was once again disturbed by another bottle falling over. He groaned, but didn't bother to get up once again. That was until he heard loud fluttering noises throughout the apartment. Butch reached over to grab his mother's Pip-Boy from the coffee table. He flipped the switch on the side to activate the flashlight. The Pip-Boy shone a bright blue light to the ceiling where the noise came from._

_It stood on the ceiling with its wings flapping slowly. Thick, crooked antennas stuck out from the top of its head and the brown carapace that made up its entire body was covered in a slimy substance. Butch stared wide-eyed at the creature. It seemed to know the boy was observing him because its wings began to pick up speed and started to flap uncontrollably. Butch screamed when the creature screeched. It pounced from the ceiling and onto the other end of the sofa. It scurried closer to Butch and climbed on a piece of the leather jacket. "Get off that's my dad's!"_

_The creature pounced once more in an attempted to bite Butch, but he quickly got from the sofa. He tripped over the leg of the coffee table as he tried to run. He banged on the steel door as it opened and ran off down the hall without back._

_Soon enough he found himself toppled over on the hallway floor. He would've fell face first had he not been saved by unknowingly running into someone else. Butch lifted up to stand on his feet. He glanced down to the ground below to see Ava on the ground, holding her hand over her nose._

_"_ _What's your problem!?" She screamed._

_Butch noticed the blood that ran down her nostril to her upper lip. "Watch where you're going, Nosebleed!"_

* * *

 

Donned in their signature leather jackets, the Tunnel Snakes stood outside of Mr. Brotch's classroom. Paul sat on the floor with his back against the wall and counted in his head each time the fluorescent light down the hall would flicker on and off. Beside him, Butch leaned on the wall, twirling around his switchblade. Wally enjoyed the silence. He wasn't much of a talker and when he did have something to say he always thought about his choice of words carefully, unless his temper got the better of him.

 _Sixty-one... sixty-two... sixty... "_ Woah," The screen of Paul's Pip-Boy lit up brightly directly in his face.

"What's up?" Wally asked. He watched Paul's eyes dart from left to right as he read something on his Pip-Boy. Before Paul could answer, Wally and Butch's Pip-Boys both lit up. Butch didn't care to know what was going on, but Wally checked to know for himself.

The message didn't say who it was from, but Wally knew it was the Overseer. He needed the Tunnel Snakes services once more. They were to report to the reactor level after and sabotage some of the lights, and equipment. Not enough to render anything useless, but enough to make sure Stanley spent long hours repairing whatever was damaged.

"How much is he paying?" Butch asked after Paul informed him about the job.

"Twenty-five rations for you and me," Paul said. "Wally gets thirty-five. That's not fair."

"It's my grandpa's stuff we're messing with. Of course, I get more. Let's go." Wally turned off his Pip-Boy.

Paul stretched his arms in the air as he lifted up from the floor and Butch stepped away from the wall. They followed Wally to the upper level where he led them to the security headquarters. Upon entrance, they saw a Steve Armstrong humming as he swept the floor of the room. He wore a face mask that covered the lower half of his face and had his dark brown hair styled in a buzz cut. He stopped humming, paused from his cleaning, and looked up to see the three boys that had entered the room.

"Shouldn't you guys be in class?" He pulled down his mask to ask.

"Says the janitor who didn't even graduate," Wally walked past Steve to get to his locker. It may be years until Wally is an actually officer, but they allowed him to keep his locker to store his small collection of authentic pre-war baseball bats that his mother didn't want inside of their apartment.

"Yeah...whatever," Steve adjusted his mask back over his face and went to back cleaning.

Steve Armstrong was Wally's older cousin, by a three year age difference. It would be hard to tell they were related since they looked nothing alike, as Steve had deeper toned skin, but they were related by blood. Steve's biological parents were said to have passed away when he was no older than a year old. He was taken in by Beatrice and she became his foster mom.

There weren't really any kids in the Vault that was Steve's age when he was growing up. The majority of youth in the Vault were all sixteen. Only three kids were between the ages thirteen and fifteen: Chip Taylor, Officer Taylor's grandson; Monica Kendall, Christine's younger sister; and Michael Holden, Tom and Mary Holden's only child. Unlike Wally's class that attended morning class and the younger kids that took afternoon classes, Steve never had any formal education due to constantly being sick when he was younger. Still, he was required to take the G.O.A.T. at sixteen and was told that he fit for maintenance.

Wally entered his combination and swung the locker door open to grab three bats. He kept one for himself, handed a bat to Paul and tossed one to Butch.

"I don't need your damn bat. I gotta real weapon." Butch threw the bat back to Wally.

"That little butter knife of yours?" Wally propped the bat back inside of the locker and slammed the door shut. "What the hell is that gonna do?"

* * *

_"_ _It'll get you killed, that's for damn sure." Anne Palmer scoffed at the sight of the butter knife that Ellen DeLoria held. The two women stood in the classroom where the Vault 101 scouting party had their meetings. The scouts were led by Anne Palmer and there were only two official members, Agnes Taylor and Lewis Greene._

 _"_ _I can handle myself." Ellen claimed._

_Anne walked over to one of her files that she left sitting on a desk. She shuffled through the papers until she came across a photo from Report 2241-02-10. "Exhibit A..." She held out the photo for Ellen to take._

_"_ _What is this?" Ellen looked at the greyscale photo of a large six-legged creature. The creature's body was divided into three parts, a head, thorax, and an abdomen. On its head were two curved antennae and its jagged mandibles were spread apart._

 _"_ _It's called a giant ant. It took more than a kitchen utensil to be able to kill it." Anne explained._

_Ellen handed the photo back to Anne. "That was years ago Anne. It can't be that bad on the outside."_

_"_ _You're right, it's not bad. It's worse now." Anne said._

 _"_ _I won't truly know that unless I go. I just want to know what the world is like outside of the Vault. I'm not asking for you to let me join your team."_

 _"_ _Good, because you were never going to be," Anne took a deep breath. "Agnes is going to Megaton in two hours. I suppose you can accompany them, but do not interfere with their studies."_

 _"_ _Instead of worrying for my safety, shouldn't you be concerned with Mrs. Taylor?" Ellen asked._

 _"_ _Unlike you, she knows what she's doing."_

_Agnes kept a steel 10mm pistol stored in the holster of the leather firearm belt wrapped around her waist. "Nothing ever happens here so Joey lets me use his gun for the expeditions."_

_"_ _Your husband must worry about you." Ellen sped up her pace to keep up with Agnes as they made their way through the atrium to get to the Vault's entrance._

 _"_ _Sweetheart, I'm the one who taught Joey how to use a gun."_

_Upon entering the Vault entrance, Ellen rubbed at her arms to keep herself warm. The entrance was one of the coldest and dimly lit areas of the Vault. While Agnes went towards the control pad, Ellen made her way closer to the steel blast door. "I've never been to this part of the Vault before." Her voice bounced off of the steel walls._

_"_ _Well..." Agnes sighed. "If you're surprised by the blast door, just wait till you get outside. The world may be a shell of its former self, but what..."_

* * *

"...the hell is that thing?" The flashlight of Butch's Pip-Boy shone on a large brown, capsule shaped object that sat in the corner of the reactor room. The object pulsated just as a chest heaves when someone breathes.

"It's probably..." Wally paused for a moment to think.

"It's probably what? This shit isn't normal." Butch said.

"It doesn't matter what it is. We're leaving. Paul!" Wally called out for the boy who was still bashing his bat into an old jukebox. "We're going to class. I get there late again and Brotch is gonna make me burn trash or worse."

"What's worse than trash burning?" Paul asked.

"Being the Vault hairdresser," Wally briefly glanced at Butch as he and Paul started their way out of the reactor room, with Butch following from behind.

"I'm a barber!" Butch corrected him. "There's a difference."

"No there's not." Wally chuckled.

"Okay, fine. Then I guess I should call you a pig, since there's no difference between that and a cop."

The boys entered the classroom just as Mr. Brotch had begun the lesson of the day. "Creation myth," Mr. Brotch read aloud what he wrote on the board in large white letters. The teacher turned around to see the boys adjust themselves in their assigned seats as if they were there the entire time. "Mr. Mack and Mr. DeLoria, come with me outside."

"Why doesn't Mr. Brotch ever talk to you?" Susie asked Paul after Mr. Brotch left the room with the other two Tunnel Snakes.

Paul shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

"...Because he's a good kid who hangs out with bad influences. Does that answer your question Walter? If you come to my class late again, I'll put you in detention. Get back to your seat. Not you," Mr. Brotch placed his hand firmly on Butch's shoulder to stop him from entering the classroom with Wally.

"Come on, Brotch." Butch shrugged to get Mr. Brotch to remove his hand from his shoulder. "I was late, big deal."

"The Overseer wants to have a word you in his office." Mr. Brotch said.

"What does he want?"

Mr. Brotch rubbed his index and middle finger in a circular motion on his temple. "How should I know? All I know is that he wants you to-"

* * *

_"_ _Hurry up, Gob, and get this beautiful lass a drink." Ellen sat down at one of the few barstools in Moriarty's Saloon. Leaning on the bar besides her was a man no older than thirty. He was tall and had a slight tan to his fair skin. He swept back his shoulder-length greying hair and he sported a greying goatee. "Colin Moriarty, at your service, and you are?"_

 _"_ _Ellen," She smiled._

 _"_ _Take it you're from that Vault. The blue suit gives it away. The Vaults are boring as hell, but at least they're safe. The Wasteland can be such an unforgiving place." Colin noticed that Ellen wasn't paying any attention to what she was saying. Her lips slightly parted and she stared ahead at the man making her drink. His flesh was decaying and the little hair wasn't able to cover up the large bald patches on his scalp. Colin lowered his voice. "Take it you've never been outside that little Vault of yours either."_

 _"_ _What is that?" Ellen whispered so only Colin would hear her._

 _"_ _Gob! You useless fucking zombie, hurry up with that drink!" The steel door to the saloon opened and three more people walked in. There was a man dressed in a long lab coat and two guards, a man and a woman, padded with armor. Colin stepped away from the bar and waved his hand towards the man in the lab coat. "Come with me to the back."_

_Colin led the man in the lab coat to one of the rooms in the back of the saloon and closed the door behind them. The male guard took the seat besides Ellen at the bar. He wore a leather jacket over his navy blue mechanic jumpsuit and his dark brown hair was styled into a pompadour. He slightly raised his hand in the air and said, "Gob, how 'bout a whiskey?"_

_"_ _Hey Butch, it's nice to see a friendly face." Gob kept his raspy voice low._

 _"_ _Moriarty's been hell lately, huh?" Butch asked._

 _"_ _Yeah..." Gob sat two glasses of whiskey on the bar. He pushed one over to Ellen and Butch grabbed the other one for himself. "So, what're you here for?"_

 _"_ _Doc Reynolds owed Moriarty some chems. We're headin' off to Arefu, thought we'd stop by and settle our debts." Butch drank his whiskey and then sat the empty glass on the bar for Gob to take. "It's rude to stare. He's human too, you know."_

 _"_ _What?" Ellen asked._

 _"_ _Gob, over there, he's a ghoul. His body was affected by all the radiation. He's as human as you and me, but the people 'round here don't see him that way. The name's Arthur, but everyone calls me Butch." He held his hand out for Ellen to shake._

 _"_ _I wonder how you got that name." Ellen didn't accept Butch's gesture. Instead she looked at the weapons that Butch was armed with. Hauled over his shoulder was an assault rifle and strapped on his belt were two combat knives._

 _"_ _I earned it, but not in the way you think sweetheart. I used to be a butcher before I became a guard for Doc Reynolds. Brahmin steak was my best seller." Butch explained. "So, you never told me that name of yours yet."_

 _"_ _It's Ellen DeLoria," She finally grabbed her glass of whiskey to sip on, but her time to relax was cut short after her Pip-Boy's screen lit up. She knew it was a message from Agnes to leave the city and head back to the Vault._

 _"_ _Well, Ellen DeLoria," Butch watched as she lifted up from the barstool. "I'll be here if you ever plan on coming back to Megaton next week or so. Maybe we can get to know each other a little better next time."_

* * *

 

 _"_ _There is no more time!" Alphonse slammed his hand on the sealed door to the main entrance of the Vault. Every other Vault resident stood in the atrium with him, questioning his reasoning for sealing the Vault door with a new password._

 _"_ _Alphonse, please, it doesn't need to come to this." Agnes pleaded._

 _"_ _Don't you people understand? We need order. The idea to interact with those impure denizens of the outside was madness and it got the Overseer, Anne, and Lewis killed." Alphonse said._

 _"_ _Your idea of order is to isolate the Vault. We need the people in the Wasteland. Those people in Megaton, their resources could be valuable to the Vault." Ellen spoke up._

_Alphonse took a deep breath and glanced over towards Ellen. Like several other women, including his wife, Ellen was pregnant. No one else batted an eye as to how it could've happened. Only Alphonse seemed to care that a potential child living in the Vault would share the same blood as someone from the Wasteland._

___"Ellen is right." Pepper clasped her hands together. "There are resources out there and we need a doctor."_

_"I_ _can agree to that. Fine...we'll allow a doctor to live with us in the Vault. Once we have one, the doors will be sealed for our safety. There shall be no contact with anyone outside of the Vault and no one else shall be allowed to enter the Vault." Alphonse's looked towards Ellen. "We are the last pure and protected breed of humans, our lineage won't be tainted any further by the Wastelanders outside of our Vault."_

* * *

"You incompetent delinquent," Alphonse slammed his hands down on his desk. Sitting across from him was Butch DeLoria. There was nothing on the desk, expect for Butch's switchblade, which Alphonse picked up. "I give you one simple task and you blow it to hell by leaving this in the maintenance room."

"I didn't know I left it." Butch leaned back in his seat.

"Stanley came to me saying his grandson's little gang ransacked his department."

Butch smirked. "He's not wrong."

"Yes he is. Only _you_ destroyed maintenance department property." Alphonse sat the switchblade back down on the desk. "For your punishment, you're going to help Stanley repair the damage you caused."


	5. Shades of Cool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after the song by Lana Del Rey.

“Fuck!” Butch, along with several of Stanley’s tools, fell to the floor.

“Watch your mouth, young man.” Stanley said without looking away from the Pip-Boy he tinkered with.

“Can’t believe I’m stuck down here helping you fix this crap,” Butch picked up one of the tools that fell as he rose up from the floor.

By order of the Overseer, Butch had to report to the maintenance department to assist Stanley. He didn’t enjoy the idea of working in maintenance with the old man, but at least he was able to skip class for the day. His hair was flat and swept back, as he didn’t have enough time to style it, and he was only dressed in his blue jumpsuit since he left his leather jacket at home.

“Help,” Stanley let out a small laugh and lowered his voice as he began to talk to himself. “You don’t even know how to use that screwdriver you’re holding. I can’t believe my grandson is friends with a hood like you.”

“Hey, why don’t you say it to my face old man?”

Stanley glanced over to Butch to see him twirling around his switchblade. “Put that butter knife away and come here, son. I need you to run an errand for me.”

“About time I get to leave.” Butch flipped his switchblade shut and stood beside Stanley. He grabbed an unopened Nuka-Cola that sat on the workstation and popped the bottle cap off. The old man scribbled a list on a piece of scrap paper and handed it over to Butch. “The hell does this say?” Butch’s eyebrows furrowed as he tried to decipher the sloppy cursive writing.

Stanley sighed. “This is Ava’s Pip-Boy. I need you to give it to her.”

Butch threw his head back as he drank some of the Nuka-Cola that he swiped from Stanley’s workstation. He grimaced at the taste of the room temperature cola, but continued to drink it anyways as he left the filter room.

To the right of the filter room was a large storage room. The usually closed door was cracked open slightly and Butch smelled the strong scent of smoke emerging from the room. The door creaked when Butch pushed it open. Inside were several steel storage containers that were pushed against the wall. In the back of the room were makeshift targets. Hanging off the edge of one of the storage containers, Butch noticed a leg. He walked further into the room to see Ava sitting on one of the storage containers.

She held her copy of a Grognak comic in her left hand and held a cigarette in between her index and middle fingers on her right hand. Her short hair was pulled up into a small top knot. She wore nothing, but loose tank top and a pair of grey shorts.

“Who knew the doctor’s brat had a black lung?” Butch leaned against the container and sat Ava’s Pip-Boy next to her feet. “Skipping class and smoking… you know this is some serious blackmail I have, nosebleed.”  

“Does Wally know that you made out with Susie? And does Susie know that you fucked Christine?” Ava brought the cigarette in between her lips. “Christine paid for me thirty ration coupons to take a few condoms from the clinic.”

“How many rations does it take to keep your mouth shut?” Butch asked.

“There’s nothing to gain in knowing about who you slept with.” Ava lifted her chin and blew a small cloud of smoke into the air. She picked up the pack of cigarettes that sat next to her and tossed them towards Butch.

“You got a light?” Butch pulled one of the slim white sticks from the box. He reached his hand out to grab the lighter from Ava. A small flame sparked up at the top of the lighter and Butch brought it to the cigarette that he held between his lips.

“Hey, I need to talk to you about Freddie.” Ava said.

“What about him?”

“I heard he wants to join your gang.”

Butch sparked the lighter’s flame on and off. “He might’ve mentioned something like that to me.”

“If you let him in the gang, you better take care of him.”

Butch smirked. “You his girlfriend?”

“It’s not like that.” Ava paused for a moment. “He just... being in your gang is probably the only thing that’ll get him out of bed to do something with himself.”

The lights in the storage room cut off for no longer than minute before switching back on. The lights shone far brighter than before. The speakers for the PA system rang out a bit of static before the Overseer’s voice came through the communication system, _“Residents of Vault 101, this is your Overseer. As of now, the simu-sun lighting within the Vault will be on at all times to combat the rising concerns of radroach nymphs. Any complaints will not be addressed at this time, as this precaution is necessary for the safety of all residents.”_

“Shit…” Butch tossed his cigarette to the floor and stomped it out. “That thing I saw. It was in the filter room last night. That was a radroach egg thing. It was so close to me. I-I could of got bit by it.”

“How can an egg bite you?”

“It just can, alright.”

“You’re so pathetic.” Ava shook her head. “Maybe I should be worried more about you than Freddie.”

* * *

“He’s going through a phase, honey. There’s nothing to worry about.” Hernan Gomez strapped the bulletproof vest over his chest. He stood in front of the floor-length mirror in his bedroom. Sitting on the queen sized bed was his wife, Pepper Gomez.  

“You’re always at work. You don’t even know what’s going on with own son.” Pepper tried to keep her voice down.

“He’s having some bad days. Every boy, every _kid_ , goes through that.”

Pepper reached over to grab a folded paper on the nightstand. It was a report card from Mr. Brotch’s class. English, history, mathematics, and science were all followed by the letter ‘F’. “Freddie can do better than this.”

“Maybe if he was encouraged to go to class instead of sleep all day-”

“He gets bad headaches.”

“Well, his head should hurt from learning new things in school.”

“It’s not Freddie’s fault.” Pepper said. “It’s those boys he tries to hang out with. They’re a bad influence on him, especially Ellen’s boy.”

“I have to get to work.” Hernan grabbed his security helmet from the top of dresser. He walked over to Pepper’s side of bed where she sat and gently kissed her. “But we’ll talk about this more in the morning.”

Pepper sighed. “Okay.”

The door to their bedroom opened and Hernan stepped out into the living room. He grabbed the keys to his locker from the coffee table and left for the night shift.

* * *

The old computer room in the Vault was the only place where no one entered, not even the Overseer. The room was deemed useless since only one of the thirty terminals worked. The broken terminals were piled into a corner, while the only working one sat on a lone desk in another corner. Not too long ago, it became the headquarters for the Tunnel Snakes. The steel walls were sprayed with graffiti depicting poorly designed snakes. Paul and Butch lounged on the old sofa in the center of room. Paul popped open a bottle of Nuka-Cola, while Butch opted for alcohol. Wally made his way over towards the terminal to check if there were any new messages from the Overseer.

“This is where you guys hang out?” Freddie stood at the door.

“Yeah man, c’mon and relax.” Paul patted the vacant cushion next to him on the couch.

Freddie took a seat on the couch. He could feel the springs underneath the hard cushion, but he still tried his best to be comfortable. Butch grabbed another Nuka-Cola that sat on the floor next to him and passed it to Paul to give it to Freddie.

“Welcome to the Tunnel Snakes, Freddie.” Butch said.

“Uh… thanks.” Freddie twisted the bottle cap off of the Nuka-Cola.

“They let you off easy, man.” Paul patted Freddie on the back. “Wally and Butch were talking about initiating you. You were gonna have to fight one of us to prove yourself.”

Butch got up from the couch to rummage through a cardboard box that sat next to the couch. He pulled out a black leather jacket with the Tunnel Snakes insignia stitched on the back. “I didn’t want your blood to get all over your jacket.” Butch tossed the jacket over to Freddie.

If his blood didn’t get on the jacket, then the Nuka-Cola surely did when it landed in his lap. Freddie placed his drink on the floor and held up the jacket.

“Don’t get too happy. There’s more to being a Tunnel Snake then having the jacket.” Wally said.

Butch nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, I mean, you gotta do something about that hair.”


	6. The Woman That Loves You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is named after the song by Japanese Breakfast. I think I should put a warning for this chapter. There's implied underaged drinking and the last one had smoking, maybe I should've put a warning on that. There is a bit of sexual stuff in this chapter, but nothing too crazy, I think. I don't really know, but I hope you enjoy this chapter.

The photograph was discolored from an old stain and coated in dust. Ava rubbed her thumb over the specks of dust that covered her mother’s face. She was the spitting image of the woman in the photograph, according to her father. He said so when he took it out of the cardboard box Ava had sat on his desk in the clinic. Besides the photograph, the box was piled with several other dust covered items that belonged to his late wife.

“Sweetheart…” His eyes lingered on the photo before slowly returning to view his daughter that stood before him. His lips curled up to form a small smile when he pulled out a Vault-Tec bobble head. He brushed a bit of dust from the trinket. “This was your mother’s. She always thought it had good luck.”

“It was taking up space in the apartment.” Ava crossed her arms over her chest. “I was going to throw them away, but I thought you’d probably still want them.”

James’s smile was quickly replaced with a frown and furrowed brows. “Ava, why would you think about throwing all of this away?”

“If you want to keep Catherine’s stuff, you can keep it here. I don’t want it at home.” Ava said.

“These are your mother’s belongings; doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

James’s question went unanswered when Jonas entered the room. His glasses were taped back together for him to wear and his face still sported a few bruises. He carried a small crate with a few water chips sitting inside. “Morning Ava, it’s been a while since you’ve been in here.”

“She was just leaving.” James said. “We’ll talk later, Ava.”

“Oh, well, see you kiddo.” James smiled at Ava before turning his attention back to her father. “These chips should help us get back on schedule with PP216.”

* * *

The jukebox in the diner played the upbeat pre-war song, _The Locomotion_ , loudly through its speakers. Nearly every resident was in the diner for breakfast, especially since it was Old Lady Palmer and Mrs. Taylor in the kitchen. Everyone in the Vault grew up eating their food and it was a known fact that the two women made the best pancakes and fried Cram.

Amata sat with Christine and her younger sister Monica. The little girl kicked her feet happily to the beat of the song as she ate a piece of fried Cram. On the table, along with their food and drinks, Christine and Amata sat their textbooks and notebooks to do their homework. They were assigned to write the definitions of chapter 25 from their textbook, the _Big Book of Science_. The chapter focused on combating and preventing airborne bacteria.

“My aunt is making a new workout class.” Christine put her pencil down to grab her bottle of water.

Amata went to the index of the textbook. “She told me. It’s a yoga class.”

“You should go.” When Amata didn’t respond, Christine looked up to see Amata glaring in her direction. “What?”

“Why would you say that?” Amata asked.

“It’s hard not to notice that you put on a few pounds.” Christine glanced around at the food Amata had ordered. There was fried Cram, a stack of pancakes, a sweet roll, and Amata ordered an ice cream float once she had finished her Nuka-Cola.

“It was hard to notice that you’re an asshole.” Amata quickly apologized when she remembered that Monica was sitting at the booth with them.

“Great, what happened?” Susie carried a plate of pancakes. She sat her plate down first and placed the backpack she slung over her shoulder on the floor before taking the empty seat next to Amata.

“All I said was that…”

“I’m fat.” Amata finished the sentence. “But I’m not.”

“If you don’t think you are, then there isn’t anything to be defensive about.” Susie cut her pancake into triangular pieces.

Amata sighed. “You sound like Ava.”

The chatter in the diner grew louder when the Tunnel Snakes entered. Christine eyes grew when she saw Freddie wearing their signature leather jacket. “Wow, I didn’t know Freddie was with them.”

“Yeah, he joined last night.” Susie said. The four leather jacket-clad boys made their way over toward the girls’ table. Wally playfully flicked his sister’s forehead before taking a piece of her pancake. Susie whacked her brother’s hand away when he tried to take another piece. “Wally, I’m seriously gonna kill you.”

Wally smiled and took another piece anyway. “Let me get some rations to get some food.”

“What’d you do with all of the rations mom gave you?” Susie picked up her bag from the floor to retrieve her ration book.

“I used them.” Wally answered.

The boys walked away once Susie gave her brother the rations he needed to buy breakfast. “Hey, Chrissie, do you want to go to the book club meeting?”

“There’s a book club?” Amata asked before Christine could respond.

“My mom started it. Aunt Mary is in it, so are Aunt Beatrice, Mrs. Hannon, and Mrs. Gomez.” Susie said.

“We get enough reading from Mr. Brotch.” Christine took another sip of her water.

Susie scooched closer to Amata and kept her voice low. “Aunt Beatrice told my mom that they should let Miss DeLoria in the club. Just to be nice, you know.”

“So…” Christine shrugged her shoulders.

Susie smiled. “So… they’re having the next club gathering at the DeLoria’s apartment. We should go. Butch will be there.”

“Butch isn’t anything special. What do you see in him?”

Amata chimed in. “He fights with girls.”

“He doesn’t fight with girls, only Ava. Besides, it doesn’t count because most of the time she starts it.” Susie glanced over towards where the Tunnel Snakes were. The four boys sat on the barstools at the bar. She watched as Butch brought his ice cream float to his parted lips. He licked the whip cream that stained his upper lip, but didn’t seem to notice it on his nose until Paul laughed at him. “Isn’t he dreamy?”

“Not really. I mean, sure he’s cool, but I don’t really like him like that.”

Amata held her tongue. She was going to mention that she knew Christine and Butch had slept together, but figured Christine didn’t want Susie to know. Instead she said, “Last month you were all over Freddie.”

“Sure, but I still liked Butch.”

“Then go out with him.” Amata ripped off a piece of her sweet roll to eat.

“I can’t.” Susie rolled her eyes and sighed. “My dad thinks it’s bad enough that Wally’s friends with him. Imagine if he found out that I was dating Butch.”

“But you aren’t, so there’s nothing to worry about.” Christine said.

“But if I was… hell, even if they found out that I like him, he’d watch over every little thing that I do.” Susie thought.

Amata finished the last of her sweet roll. “I wonder what it’s like to have a dad constantly monitoring everything you do.”

* * *

_“This is the second time that this has happened, but we’ll try again. It has to work.” Alphonse slightly leaned against the dresser with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked over to his wife, Maria, who sat on their bed that was on the other side of the room. “Maybe you could ask Gloria for advice. The new doctor doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing.”_

_Maria took a deep breath. “I need rest.”_

_“Honey, this is for the future of the Vault.” Alphonse said._

_“The future of the Vault,” Maria repeated with a joyless laugh. “Don’t you see what you’ve become, Alphonse? Amata, me… nothing else matters to you, except for this precious Vault.”_

_“You’re still hysterical from the miscarriage.” Alphonse tensed up._

_“It wasn’t a miscarriage. It was an abortion.” Maria said under her breath, but then raised her voice for Alphonse to hear. “I had an abortion, because I didn’t want any more of your children. I didn’t want them to suffer in hell like the rest of us.”_

* * *

 

Beatrice closed her novel and rested her hand on the cover. She sat with one leg cross over the other on Ellen DeLoria’s couch. Beside her sat Vikki Hannon and Gloria Mack. Sitting on the couch’s matching chair was Ellen DeLoria and on folding chairs were Mary Kendall and Pepper Gomez. Each of the women held a copy of the novel.

“It sounded like you had a strong reaction to the chapter.” Mary pursed her lips.

“The boy was killed by three grown men over nothing.”

Pepper smirked. “I wouldn’t say it was over nothing. I think the boy was a troublemaker, which is why he was sent to live in that town.”

“I don’t understand what was so troubling. It was _alleged_ that he said something in French to Lily, but even if he did what is the crime in that? It was only talking. He didn’t hurt her.” Beatrice gestured her hand toward Butch. He leaned on the counter in the kitchen, with Christine and Susie, and ate a bag of potato crisps. “What if Butch complimented you, Gloria? Would you be okay with dad, Allen, and Stevie being ignorant enough to want to kill him for that?”

“No, no, no…” Vikki shook her head. “Butch is a troublemaker. The boy was innocent and didn’t get himself into trouble. They killed him over his race.”

“You’re not that bad of a guy.” Susie smiled at Butch.

Instead of responding, Butch stuffed his mouth with more potato crisps. He finally spoke once he finished the last of his snack. “This party’s fun and all, but I’m gonna go.”

* * *

Served for lunch was a Salisbury steak with a side of InstaMash. Ava and James sat in silence at their dinner table. She poked at her potatoes with her fork, while he sipped on a glass of scotch. “You haven’t touched your food.” James broke the silence between them.

“I told you that I wasn’t hungry.” Ava sat her fork down on the plate.

“You still need to eat something.”

Ava leaned back in her chair. “If I wanted food, I could’ve made it myself. I don't have to wait for you to finally take a break from the clinic.”

James cut off a piece of his steak. “Salisbury steak was your mother’s favorite.”

“It’s Amata’s too.” Ava crossed her arms over her chest. “and Jonas’s and Paul’s. It’s meat, it’s nothing special.”

“Sweetheart, is something wrong?” James asked. “Whenever your mother is mentioned you change.”

“It’s like you think I’m a little kid still, asking about who Catherine was.” Ava said. “I don’t care about her favorite steak or Alpha and Omega. I don’t want to keep hearing about a woman I’ve never met and don’t care about.”

James tried to keep his voice from rising. “That is your mother that you’re talking about.”

“She didn’t raise me.”

“I taught you better than to speak about your mother in that manner.”

“The only thing you taught me is how to take care of myself, because my only parent won’t.”

“I do what I must to protect you.”

“From what… having a father?”

“Wow…” James rubbed at his forehead. “Maybe I didn’t raise you. My Ava, she’d never be disrespectful to her own parents.”

“It’s only disrespectful because you don’t want to hear the truth.”

The screen of James’ Pip-Boy lit up. It was a message from Jonas. Immediately after reading the text, James’ chair scraped against the steel floor when he pushed away from the table. “We’ll talk about this another time, sweetheart.”

Ava smiled. “It was great having lunch with you, James.”

Once her father left the apartment, Ava grabbed the bottle of scotch. It wasn’t long before Ava stepped out of the apartment as well. “Butch,” She called out the boy’s name when she saw him down the hall. The sound of her voice made him stop in his tracks and turn around. “You wanna drink?”

Butch looked at the bottle of scotch that she held. “I’m more of a vodka guy, but that’ll do.”

“I’m starting to think you’re already drunk, nosebleed.” Butch said as the pair walked through the halls of the Vault together. “Then again, the best drinking buddy is another person just as fucked up as you.”

“Don’t ever call me “buddy”, again.” Ava ordered.

“Does “uptight bitch” sound better?” Butch asked.

“A little bit.”

“What name do you got for me?”

“Butch as a name is already bad enough.”  

Ava was going to go to one of the reactor rooms, but Butch insisted that they go to the computer room. He led them to the vacant Tunnel Snake lounge. He grabbed a two glasses that were sitting on the desk next to the terminal and joined Ava on the sofa.

They weren’t even drunk when Ava brought herself closer to Butch. He tasted only of scotch when she kissed him. Her lips gently pressed against his, but Butch reciprocated by mashing his lips hard onto hers and sloppily trying to have his tongue explore inside of her. Ava pulled herself away from Butch to be able to position herself on top of him. Butch brought his hands to Ava’s waist and smirked.

“I knew you had a thing for the Butch-man.”

Ava stroked her nails through his thick pompadour. “Call yourself that again and I’m leaving.”

“What? Butch-man?”

Ava rolled her eyes and unzipped her own jumpsuit. Once the zipper was low enough, she undressed her arms from the sleeves, letting the upper half of the suit fall at her waist. She leaned over to kiss Butch and he blindly went to work on unhooking her bra.

“What are you doing?” Ava kissed him on his neck.

“I can’t unhook this thing.” Butch struggled. “Christine was easier… she didn’t wear a bra.”

“It’s a sports bra. You can’t unhook it.” Ava sat upright on Butch. He shimmied out of his leather jacket and unzipped his own jumpsuit, while Ava removed her sports bra.

Butch licked his lips and smiled at the sight of Ava’s well-endowed breasts. He gripped his hand around her waist and pulled her onto the sofa. Ava lied on her back and Butch brought himself on top of her.

* * *

“Where did Butch go?” Susie chewed on a snack cake. She still sat at the dining table in the DeLoria’s kitchen with Christine.

“He’s probably with Wally.” Christine guessed. She glanced over to where the adults were and saw Pepper Gomez standing.

“I’ll see you girls later.” Pepper said. “I have to go fix Hernan’s lunch for his night shift.”

Pepper assured the women that she’d be at the next meeting before leaving the apartment. As soon as the door closed behind her, Mary shook her head and said, “Hernan wants to have another child.”

“I thought that was years ago.” Vikki grabbed a snack cake from the coffee table.

Mary crossed one leg over the other. “Hernan thought Pepper was too nervous because of the miscarriage, but now he thinks it’s the time to try again before they get any older.”

“Miscarriage,” Gloria snorted. “She asked Doctor Jurado for an abortion.”

Vikki and Mary’s eyes grew and they gasped. “You’re lying.”

Gloria shook her head. “She slipped up and said abortion when we were talking one day.”

“You know who should’ve had an abortion?” Mary teased the question. Gloria’s quickly shot a look towards Ellen. “Whoever Doctor Jurado’s wife was.”

“He probably wasn’t even married. He might’ve slept with one those Raiders that Anne would tell us about.” Gloria said. “At first I was okay with it, but I can’t believe Alphonse would let that hot-headed wasteland trash grow up here.”

“Be quiet.” Beatrice looked over to see Christine and Susie. The girls were busy talking to themselves to notice what Gloria had said. “Do you want them to find out?”

“I’m just saying that we should keep an eye out on that girl. Anne said that Wastelanders are unpredictable… but she also said that Wasteland trash like to pick fights with each other. So, I suppose it’s a good thing your son is around, Ellen.”

“Ellen… she…ignore her.” Beatrice reached her hand out to comfort Ellen, but was swatted away.

“You all need to leave.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, the book club is actually reading a real book. It's called "Your Blues Ain't Like Mine" and it's really good.


	7. Hey Mami

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a warning for the sexual content in the beginning of this chapter. The title is named after the song by Sylvan Esso.

Ava’s nails dug deeper into Butch’s neck as he tilted his head back. The old springs in the couch squeaked with every bounce Ava made on top of him. She clutched one hand around Butch’s neck, while the other one rested on his bare chest. Ava bit her bottom lip to keep herself from moaning, but Butch’s occasional curses would fill the silence in the room. That was until Butch heard a cackling sound that emerged from the ceiling.

“You hear that?” Butch slowly lifted his head. “I think it’s a radroach.”

“It can’t be a radroach if the lights are on.” Ava slowed down to bring herself closer to Butch. Her breasts pressed against his chest. She kissed him, though Butch didn’t kiss back, prompting Ava to gently grab him by his chin and make him face her. “Relax, it’s…”

Ava said no more once she heard the noise as well. She lifted herself up for Butch to slide out of her, but stayed on top of him.

“I told you so.” Butch said.

The two looked up at the ceiling. There was nothing new to see, just the same steel ceiling and simu-sun lights. “It smells like something’s burning.”

“Yeah, I smell it too.” Butch gasped. “What if it’s a fire-breathing radroach?”

“Yeah....” Ava nodded her head until she realized what he had said. “Wait, no. That’s not even possible.”

“It’s a giant roach. Plus, we were having sex… pretty sure anything’s possible.” The crackling noise grew louder and the lights began to flicker from its brightest luminosity to a dimmer setting. “Shit, we’re gonna die.”

“What?”

“Haven’t you seen those pre-war horror flicks? The couple usually gets killed right after they fuck.” Butch said.

“Lucky for us, we aren’t dating.”

“I can make you my girl before we die single.”

The simu-sun lights shone at its peak brightness and the cackling noise filled the entire room. One by one each bulb exploded into shards. Ava ducked her head down and Butch quickly grabbed his leather jacket from the floor to cover her with it. By the time Ava pulled the jacket from over her, the room was pitch black. She couldn’t see anything, but managed to climb off of Butch and onto the other side of the couch.

“Where are you going?” Butch asked.

“We need a Pip-Boy to get some light.”

“Sit down. I don’t want you cutting yourself trying to find them.” Butch slowly got up from couch. He remembered that he sat his on the desk on the other end of the room, but Ava’s was somewhere on the floor. He took one step and could feel his skin tear open as a light bulb shard lodged itself into his foot. “Ow!”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah… I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

* * *

“Sir, Officer O’Brian reported a power outage in the atrium and Officer Gomez reported the same incident inside of the clinic.” Security Chief Hannon stood in front of the Overseer’s circular desk. The Chief stood upright, stiffly, and had his hands clasped together behind him.

“The clinic,” Alphonse took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his greying beard. “The doctor has something to do with this. Arrest him and I want an interrogation with Jonas Palmer.”

Hannon nodded his head once and proceeded to remove his walkie-talkie from his belt. He pressed one of the buttons on the side of the device and brought it close to his mouth. “Gomez, come in.”

The walkie-talkie made a bit of static before Gomez’s voice came through on the other end. _“This is Gomez.”_

“Are you still near the clinic?” The Chief started to pace back and forth.

_“Yes, Chief, I’m entering the clinic. I believe James and Jonas are still inside. I see some light emerging from the main office.”_

“Call in Officer Mack for backup. Jurado and Palmer are to be brought in for questioning.”

_“Will do, sir.”_

Hannon clicked the button to end his communications with Gomez and pressed it once more to patch through to Officer O’Brian.

* * *

“No Chief, I don’t spot anyone inside of the atrium.” The flashlight from his Pip-Boy was the only light O’Brian used to navigate through the area.

_“Keep sharp, O’Brian. Without the simu-sun lighting, the radroaches may scurry into that area.”_

“Noted,” O’Brian froze when he heard a loud _bang_ come from the second floor of the atrium. He shone his Pip-Boy in the direction where he heard the noise, near the computer room, but couldn’t see anything. “Sir, there was some sort of racket occurring in the upper level of the atrium. I’m going to go investigate.”

_“Keep me posted.”_

O’Brian cut his communication with the Chief and started his way to the second floor of the atrium. The closer he was to the computer room; O’Brian was able to distinguish the noises as hurried footsteps. Once he was at the door, he could hear incomprehensible whispering coming from the room. The officer pressed the control panel for the door, but it could only be unlocked from the inside. He pounded his fist on the steel door. “Vault 101 Security, open the door!”

* * *

_“Chief Hannon, there’s a resident inside of the computer room. I tried using the control panel; the door is locked from the inside and the resident will not comply.”_ O’Brian reported.

The Overseer stepped over to the circular window that gave him a view of the atrium. Due to the light of the Pip-Boy, he could see O’Brian standing outside of the computer room. As he was on the walkie-talkie with the Chief, O’Brian used his baton to bang against the steel door.

“Does he know who is in the room?” Alphonse asked and Chief Hannon repeated the question to his officer.

_“That’s a negative, sir.”_

“Chief,” Alphonse signaled for Chief Hannon to be at his side. The Overseer took ahold of his walkie-walkie. “Officer O’Brian, this is your Overseer.”

 _“Sir.”_ O’Brian holstered his baton and turned around to see the Overseer looking down at him.

“I can override the door’s lock from my terminal. Once inside, I want you to subdue the resident and arrest him for not complying with security.” Alphonse handed the walkie-talkie back to Hannon before making his way to his terminal.

Security Chief Hannon stayed at the window and watched as O’Brian stormed into the dark room once the doors were open. The Overseer rejoined the Chief at the window. They stared out at the dark atrium, unable to see or hear anything that was going on. A little over five minutes passed once they saw O’Brian march out from the room. He had dragged out a young girl that the Overseer immediately recognized as Ava and not long after he pulled out Butch DeLoria and threw him to the floor next to her.

 _“The residents are restrained and ready to be taken in to questioning.”_ O’Brian lowered his walkie-talkie from his mouth.

“I’ll inform Officer Mack of the new arrivals.”

* * *

James slammed his hand against the small barred window to get Allen Mack and Officer Gomez’s attention. When he wasn’t yelling to the officers about why he and Jonas were locked in the cell, he was pacing back and forth mumbling the question to himself. Jonas sat on one of the two cots that were installed inside of the cell.

“James, I’m sure there’s a logical reason why they arrested us.” Jonas said.

“The logical thing to do is speak to us about the incident. We were only arrested because of Alphonse’s vendetta against us.” James slammed his hand against the wall.

“I want you to understand that what we did could have harmed the Vault. Imagine if we overloaded the power too much and the reactor fried.”

“You’re speaking in hypotheticals.” James slowed his pace.

Jonas removed his glasses and used his lab coat to clean each lens. “It’s a hypothetical that could become reality if we aren’t careful.”

James walked over to the window once more when he heard the door to security slide open. Two handcuffed teenagers were marched inside of the room by Officer O’Brian. James studied the leader of the Tunnel Snakes as he limped inside. His cheeks were flushed and his usually neat pompadour was ruffled. He wore his white t-shirt and a pair of grey boxer briefs. Next to him was his daughter. The legs of her jumpsuit were on to cover her lower half, but the upper half was unzipped and fell below her waist. Doing its best to conceal her chest was Butch’s leather jacket.

O’Brian tapped on Allen Mack’s shoulder to unlock the cell. He hauled the teenagers inside and removed the handcuffs. “Your mom is going have to do a lot to get you out of here, DeLoria.”

“Don’t touch my mom, you fucking bas-” Butch’s threat was replaced by a loud scream. He fell over on the floor in a fetal position, whimpering in pain. He rubbed his hand over a fresh red mark that stretched from his ankle to his upper calf.

O’Brian pointed his baton at Jonas. “The Overseer wants to have a word with you, Palmer.”

Without a word, Jonas immediately got up from the cot. The best way to not end up like Butch was to do as the officer said. O’Brian led Jonas out of the room and asked his fellow officer, Gomez, to bring him to the Overseer’s office.

“Nice strike, O’Brian.” Allen Mack kicked his feet up on the desk next to the terminal.

O’Brian smiled and stepped over to his locker. “Let’s hope Gomez doesn’t say anything to the Chief.”

“Gomez should know better than to rat out his fellow officers. Besides, you were provoked by that thug. The Chief would commend you for standing your ground and showing him who has the authority.” The hinges of the locker door squealed when it was opened. O’Brian grabbed his pack of cigarette. He took one stick for himself and offered one to Allen, who declined. “I told Gloria I’d quit.”

“Is she worried about your health?” O’Brian repacked the cigarette into the box and put it back into the locker.

“No. She thinks Wally will start smoking if he gets to one of my packs. That’s how Stevie started when he was younger.” Allen said.

* * *

“Go slow, go slow…” Butch whined as Ava tried to help him up from the floor. He managed to stand up on his feet, but was hunched over. He had one arm wrapped around Ava’s shoulder for support as she led him to an empty cot to lie on. Butch curled into a fetal position again.

Ava turned around to see her father pacing back and forth. “You’re a doctor, aren’t you gonna help him?”

James stopped in his tracks and stared at his daughter. “Now you want me to be a doctor.”

“Helping people, that’s your job, right?”

“That is my job as a doctor and a father. Don’t make that face.” James snapped when Ava furrowed her eyebrows. “If you’d stop being blinded by your own selfishness, you’d see just how much I love you.”

“I’m not selfish. You’re the selfish one, always-”

“I worked in the clinic for days on end to make enough rations to pay Mrs. Palmer to watch you as an infant. We lived in an old storage room before and I worked hard to earn us an apartment to reside in. I made many sacrifices to ensure that you grew up safe and you spit in my face because you’re angry.” James held his hands on his hips and took a deep breath.

“We’re living in a steel box with the same people, doing the same things for the rest of our lives. Catherine was loved by everyone. She was smart, gracious and could do anything she wanted. When she was pregnant, she realized that she all she ever wanted was me.” Ava’s voice slightly cracked as she paraphrased a story her father had once told. “I'm sure she wanted a failure that’s destined to be a fry cook. It makes me happy that we never knew each other, but I still feel like I’m disappointing her… and you.”

“Your outburst earlier today,” James glanced over towards Butch. “And… your actions may upset me, but I’m not disappointed in you, sweetheart. You’re my only flesh and blood, but that doesn’t mean I expect you to be just like me or your mother. The G.O.A.T. said you’d be a fry cook. So…”

“So…” Ava didn’t know what he was going to say.

“So, you be the best damned chef in this Vault. It’s not disappointing to know that my daughter will be a great chef and she may throw in a discount for her old man.” James made his way over to Ava. He stretched his arms out for her to step into his embrace. He held her tightly and kissed her on her forehead. James looked over towards Butch when he cried out once more. “When we’re released I can prescribe him some pain relieve.”

* * *

Officer Gomez and Chief Hannon stood at Jonas’s side. He was brought before the Overseer’s desk, where Alphonse sat with his hands laced together. An unsettling smile curled up on the Overseer’s face. “Jonas, do you know what my job is around here?”

“As Overseer, you protect those who reside in the Vault.” Jonas said. “Though keep in mind that is Doctor Jurado’s job as well.”

“Yes, compare me to a man that would rather do meaningless experiments than worry about the health of the residents.” Alphonse took a moment of silence. “As you can see, there is a power outage in the atrium, as well as the clinic. It is safe for me to believe that the doctor had something to do with this incident.”

“Not directly.”

Alphonse’s eyes lit up. “Go on.”

“The clinic is the only operational area of the Vault during late hours and now that the simu-sun lights are always on, it might’ve caused a circuitry malfunction.”

“It is plausible.” Alphonse thought aloud. “But I have my suspicions. Jonas, for the time being, you and Doctor Jurado will be placed under house arrest and watched by an officer at all times. Chief Hannon.”

“Sir,” Hannon acknowledge him.

“The adolescents of the Vault need to learn a lesson and realize that they must care for their home. I want Officers O’Brian, Park, Richards, Wolfe, and Stanley Armstrong stationed in the atrium first thing in the morning.” Alphonse ordered.

* * *

Old construction lights were set up inside the atrium. The light shone on all of the shards that scattered across the steel floor. The broken light bulbs crunched underneath the boots of the teenagers that stepped inside of the room. They were given rubber gloves to wear and face masks, just in case the lingering smoke from the bulbs when they burned was still in the air. Officer Park handed different supplies to each of the teenagers. Some were given broomsticks, others received dust pans and trash bags, and a few were brought into the storage rooms to replace the light fixtures with Stanley’s assistance.

“You are to work in here until this room meets the Overseer’s standards!” Officer Richards yelled at the kids from the second floor.

“Can we split into sections? We’ll be done faster.” Christine said.

“I don’t care if you decide to line up and clean in a fucking conga line, Miss Kendall!” Officer Richards continued, “It doesn’t matter if you’re here for two days straight. It’s the Overseer who decides when you’re done here.”

“I can’t believe my father pulled us out of class to do this.” Amata swept a few pieces of broken bulbs into Susie’s dustpan. She turned towards Ava, who was sweeping at a slow pace next to her.

“Mami!”  Richards aimed his baton at Ava. “It doesn’t look like your putting in any effort down there!”

“Mami… I like that nickname.” Butch smiled as he walked past the girls. He walked alongside Michael Holden. Both boys carried a handful of new lights to install in the fixtures.

“Shut up, but at least it’s still better than the Butch-man.”

Butch patted one hand on Michael’s back. “I’ll meet you in the storage room kid.”

“How’s your foot and your leg?” Ava asked.

Susie dumped the shards into a trash bag. “What happened, Butch?” She asked.

Butch glanced over towards Susie and shook his head. “Nothing happened.” He looked back at Ava. “I bled through all my socks, so I have to wear my mom’s. Since your dad’s not working, I had to use some her pain killers too.”

“You feel better though, right?”

“Butch the builder, hurry up and come help us!” Wally called out. He stood outside one of the storage rooms with Michael and Christine.

“See you later, mami.”

Amata couldn’t help but smile. “What was that all about? Don’t tell me you and Butch are friends now.”

“Hell no,” Ava swept up a small pile of trash. “We’re just being civil now.”

“So there won’t be any more wars?”

“Not unless anyone messes with you.”

“This is just way too weird. I swear, you guys were fighting with each other and now you guys had a conversation without cussing each other out. You know what,” Amata tapped her finger on the broomstick. “I’m either dreaming or we’re living in a weird alternate universe.”

“Or maybe both and you’ll be like that pre-war movie about the girl who chases that rabbit.” Ava said.

Amata squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to remember what movie Ava was talking about. “She had the dog and walked on a yellow road.”

“No, that’s different one with witches. I’m talking about the one where she can drink things and it makes her tiny and…”

“Eat things and she becomes huge,” Susie smirked at Amata.

“That’s not funny.” Amata said.

Susie rolled her eyes. “It’s just a joke, Amata.”

Stanley had given different assignments to the kids that he supervised. He assigned Michael to bring in more light bulbs when needed. He had Butch sweep up what was left of the bulbs into a pile, while Wally held onto the ladder that Christine climb up to replace the light bulbs. Once they were all doing what they were told, he went off to assist another group in another storage room.

“I saw you talking to that nosebleed.” Wally kept a firm grip on the ladder. “I didn’t know if I had to step in or not.”

“No, man, it’s all good.”

“Wally, can you go help Michael with getting more bulbs.” Christine climbed down the ladder. “We need two more boxes.”

“Alright, I’ll be back.”

Christine sat on the last step of the ladder. “You’re such an asshole.”

“You want to tell me why.” Butch sat the broom against the wall.

“You know Susie likes you, so you just sleep with her and move on to the next girl.” Christine crossed her arms over her chest. “I saw how you ignored her out there.”

“You’re insane.”

“And you’re messed up.” Christine kept her voice down. “When we slept together, it meant nothing, but Susie…”

“I didn’t do anything with Susie.” Butch said.

Christine slapped her hand on her thigh. “Are you kidding me? You came over to my house to borrow a condom and who else would Susie be with after she left your house.”

Butch shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, because I left earlier.”

“I don’t believe you.” Christine lowered her head.

“I don’t care what you do or don’t believe. I just wanna get out of here and get something to eat.”


	8. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to change the story with a twist, but it felt forced and rushed. So, that idea is put aside for now until it fits in naturally. This chapter is named after the song by The Shirelles.

Alphonse stood at his circular window that overlooked the atrium. His eyes were fixated on Amata, watching her every movement she made as she assisted in the atrium cleanup. She filled out her jumpsuit more than she had before. The gain in weight could’ve easily been explained by the food served in the Vault. There weren’t really any healthy options to choose from the preserved food from before the war. The closest they had to healthy food was the hydroponic garden that Beatrice attempted to create, but it was accidentally destroyed by Andy. Even still, Alphonse couldn’t accept that explanation.

“Can’t he find something better to do?” Amata could feel her father’s eyes on her.

Susie tied up the handles of the trash bag. “Hey, I’ll be back. I’m going to go burn this.”

Amata kept silent until Susie had left the atrium. “I need you to not hook up with Butch for a while… or at least, don’t get caught.” Amata looked up to the second floor where she saw Officer Richards and O’Brian. Richards laughed and licked his lips, while O’Brian vulgarly thrusted his pelvis as he told him a story.

“Trust me, it was a one-time thing.”

“I didn’t want to say anything in front of Susie. My father told me and… he thinks that whatever you do, I do the same thing. So when you and Butch were caught, he figured that I’d slept with someone too.” Amata rubbed her hand over her stomach. “And he thinks I’m pregnant.”

“Look around. Does he really think you’d have a baby with any of these guys?” Ava raised one eyebrow when she saw Paul and Freddie pretending to sword fight with their brooms.

“It’s my father we’re talking about. He doesn’t trust me.” Amata let out a brief joyless laugh. “Yet, everyone thinks my life is great because my father is the Overseer.”

“Sure there’s a bunch of rules and rules suck, but there has to be some perks. You’re basically the princess of the Vault.”

“Other parents make rules,” Amata placed her hand over her heart. “I follow orders. There’s no questioning my father and when I do rebel from his demands, there are strict consequences. You of all people should know that.”

“Ladies,” Amata and Ava looked up to see Officer Richards once more. “Stop chit-chatting and get back to work!”

“I’m going to go check up on Susie.” Amata said.

Amata wasn’t even close to the exit when she lost her footing and fell to the floor.  Wally Mack had bumped his shoulder into hers when they crossed paths. It didn’t take much strength from him to be able to knock Amata down. Wally stopped and glared back at Amata. “Watch where you step, lardass.”

Ava threw her broom to the floor and stormed over to the lone Tunnel Snake. “You wanna say that again, Wally?”

“Stop it!” Amata yelled, gathering everyone’s attention.

Officer O’Brian nudged Officer Richards with his shoulder. “Richards, they’re about to fight.”

“Hey!” Richards started to yell, but was calmed down by O’Brian.

“Relax and let them fight.” O’Brian said.

Officer Richards nodded his head. “Who’re you betting on?”

“I’m going with two on Mack.”

“Shit…” Richards rubbed at his five o’ clock shadow. “Then I got three on Jurado.”

Wally and Ava stood inches apart. Her clenched fists trembled at the thought of punching him on the side of his face, the sweet spot where she could bust his lip and fracture his nose. She hadn’t forgotten about their last encounter inside of the diner. Wally knocking Amata over was just another reason for Ava to want to go after him.

“Hit me,” Wally pushed his body onto Ava’s. “Do it, spaz. I dare you.”

“Don’t fuck with me or Amata.”

Wally squint his eyes. “You’re all talk, feeb. You already know what I can do to you, so I wouldn’t go around making orders.”

Wally was caught off guard when Ava swung her fist. Her bare knuckles managed to strike him directly where she had wanted. She didn’t have enough strength to break his nose, but she made enough of an impact to get Wally to stumble back. He rubbed his hand over his mouth and blood smeared onto his palm. His lip looked fine but when he opened his mouth to curse at Ava, his teeth were coated with blood.

“That’s it you fucking bitch!” Wally threw his fist in the air. It would’ve hit Ava had she not been pulled back by Butch. Wally’s fist landed on Butch’s face. Butch sucked up the pain that throbbed around his eye and grabbed Wally by the collar of his leather jacket. He pulled himself close to other Tunnel Snake and rested his forehead on Wally’s.

“Calm down, man, it’s not worth it.” Butch struggled to restrain Wally.

“If I gotta beat you to get to her, I will.” A bit of blood from Wally’s mouth landed onto Butch’s cheek.

“C’mon,” Butch quickly let go of Wally to be able to drape his arm around his shoulders. “Let’s get out of here. You need to breathe, man.”

O’Brian shook his head as Butch led Wally out of the Atrium. “Jurado didn’t win. Mack didn’t even get a chance to fight back.”

“Don’t be mad because you bet on the wrong kid.” Richards said.

Ava walked over to Amata and held her hand out to help her up from the floor. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It was an accident.” Amata assured her. “But, thank you.”

* * *

He didn’t have to deal with the students talking back or interrupting his lesson. He didn’t need to reprimand Butch or Wally for their behavior. He didn’t have to stop a fight from occurring between Butch and Ava. He didn’t have to hear Christine call him a liar. An ear-to-ear grin spread across Mr. Brotch’s face as he walked out of the diner. He drank a cup of coffee and held an old pre-war magazine.

“Now, we’re gonna stretch all of the stress away.” Mr. Brotch heard a woman’s voice from one of the apartments. The door was open for anyone that walked past to see the yoga class in session. Beatrice knelt down on the floor and stretched her arms up. She took a deep breath and exhaled as she slowly lowered her upper body until her forehead and hands rested on the floor. Agnes Taylor, Old Lady Palmer, and Ellen DeLoria waited for their instructor to lift back up before they tried the position for themselves. Beatrice smiled. “Good job, ladies. Don’t forget to breathe.”

“I didn’t know you taught yoga.” Beatrice looked up to see Mr. Brotch standing in the doorway.

“I could’ve have sworn that I told you, Edwin.” Beatrice stood up and made her way to the door. “Shouldn’t you have a class to teach as well?”

Mr. Brotch took another sip of his coffee. “I have the day off. The students are cleaning the atrium.”

“That’s nice. What are your plans?” Beatrice asked.

“Nothing much, just a bit of reading at home I suppose.”

Beatrice smiled. “That sounds relaxing.”

Ellen lifted up from the yoga position and stood up from the floor. She stepped past Old Lady Palmer and Agnes to get to her drawstring bag she sat on a dining chair. She threw the bag over her shoulder and headed towards the door to stand beside Beatrice.

“The class is over, so we’ll see you next week.” Ellen said.

“Ellen, we have another hour left.”

Ellen placed her hand on Beatrice’s shoulder. “I thought Edwin was taking you out.”

“No, he didn’t…” Beatrice turned to Mr. Brotch, who smiled nervously.

“We never talked about that.” He quickly said.

“A date, that sounds lovely.” Old Lady Palmer chimed in.

“Mrs. Palmer, we are not…”

“Just take her out Edwin and bring her home by ten.” Ellen hugged Beatrice. “You can thank me later. If you need me, I’m going to go get a drink.”

* * *

Paul tapped his foot to the upbeat jazz instrumental that played through the PA system speakers. He stood with Butch, Wally, and Freddie in the hallway. Wally had his back pressed against the wall. “Fucking little spaz.” He spit out blood onto the floor next to his foot.

“She wasn’t worth it, Wally.” Butch said.

Wally furrowed his brows and scrunched his nose. He glared at Butch, who stood in front of him. “Fuck you too Butch! What the hell is wrong with you?” Wally pushed himself away from the wall and shoved Butch.

Butch stumbled back, but quickly regained his balance. His whole body twisted when he launched his fist towards Wally. He managed to hit him directly in the face, but Wally returned the favor with a right hook underneath Butch’s chin. The impact made Butch’s teeth bite down on his plump bottom lip. The two Tunnel Snakes bashed their fists at each other much strength as they could muster. Freddie wanted to pull them away from each other, but was afraid of getting caught in the crosshairs. Luckily, Paul was willing to do it instead.

Paul stepped in the middle of the fight and pushed Butch and Wally from one another. The two boys threatened Paul to move in between hard, short breaths. “No!” Paul yelled. “We’re brothers! Birth to Earth, womb to tomb! We don’t fight our own!”

“Stop looking at me as if it’s my fault!” Wally leaned back against the wall. “If we’re brothers, then we have each other’s back. You don’t take sides with anyone outside of the gang.”

“I was looking out for you.” Butch said. “You went overboard last time. Plus, Amata was there. She would’ve told her daddy everything. He wouldn’t care if you beat up on Ava, but if knew you did anything to Amata, he’d come down on the Snakes.”

“He’s right, Wally.” Paul agreed.

Butch motioned his hand towards Paul. “Finally, someone gets it.”

“I bumped into her on accident.” Wally defended himself.

“That won’t matter to the Overseer.” Freddie said.

“You’re kidding.” Wally huffed. “You two are gonna believe Butch’s bullshit. He’s protecting that little spaz because she put out for him.”

“If I was protecting her wouldn’t I stay with her, instead of dragging your ass out here to calm you down?” Butch rubbed his hand on the lower half of his face.

“It doesn’t matter.” Paul sighed and repeated himself. “It doesn’t matter if you a had a thing with Ava, Butch. It doesn’t matter that Butch stopped you from doing anything crazy, Wally. What matters is that we apologize and move forward.”

“I’m not saying sorry to him.” Butch said.

“Something we can agree on.” Wally said.

“Fine,” Paul threw his hands in the air. “Don’t apologize, but the least you two can do is leave this shit in the past. Do it for me, at least. I hate it when you guys fight. It’s like… when your parents fight. You can’t pick a side when you care for both of them.”

Butch took a deep breath and patted Paul on his back before bringing him into a hug. “I’ll do it for you, Paulie and for Freddie.” Butch let go of Paul. “Wally, you’re an asshole… but a good friend. Don’t question my loyalty.”

Wally held his fist out for Butch to bump with his. “You’re a good friend, too.”

It was another hour of cleaning until the Overseer was satisfied with the atrium. It looked just as it did before the incident and the new lights shone brighter than ever. The officers clocked out of their shift and Stanley went home for well-needed rest after he complained of another headache.

“So, what are your plans?” Amata placed her broom in one of the supply closets.

Ava sat her broom inside as well and closed the door. “I wanted to sleep, but I just remembered I never did my science homework.”

“We both know that you’re going to procrastinate and sleep anyways.” Amata said. “So why don’t we use that time that you would use to procrastinate to do something fun.”

Amata’s idea of fun was to have a horror movie night. She didn’t want to do it at her house with the fear of her father monitoring them, so they decided to watch the movie at Ava’s place. Amata invited Susie, Christine, and Christine’s little sister, Monica. The girls settled into the living room of the small apartment. Christine and Monica bundled up on the couch. Susie and Ava sat pillows and a comforter on the floor, while Amata was entering the movie into the holotape player of the television.

It was strange for Ava to see her father inside of the apartment, but since he was under house arrest he couldn’t go anywhere else. “I’m going to go bed, wake if up if you need anything.”

“What movie is this?” Christine asked as Amata turned off the light in the living room before making her way over to the couch.

“ _Linden Street_.” Amata answered.

“What’s it about?” Christine asked.

Monica shushed her older sister before Amata could attempt to answer the question.

The screen was black and all that could be heard was faint radio static, until an old pre-war song began to play. The screen slowly faded from black to show a glass. It sat at the edge of a dining table, turned on its side. The image panned down to show that what was left of the red-colored drink dripped down to the carpet below. There was a large red stain embedded into the carpet, followed by a trail of red splotches in the carpet. The stains led to a face of a woman. Her bright blue eyes stared up at the ceiling above. Her lips slightly parted as if she were going to say something. Replacing the pearl necklace that she usually wore was a deep gash that poured out blood from her neck, nearly decapitating her head. Her olive colored dress was splattered with blood. Lodge in the center of her stomach was a large chef knife.

Susie nearly gagged from scene. “Isn’t this based on a true story?” She asked, but Monica shushed her before she could get an answer.

There were three hard knocks on the door to the apartment. Ava got up to answer the door, only to find Butch on the other side. His hands were stuffed inside of the pockets of his leather jacket and he held a toothpick between his teeth. His lip was swelled and busted. The rest of his face appeared to be swollen as well and a bruise began to form underneath his right eye.

“The bruise really brings out your eyes.” Ava cross her arms and leaned on the doorway.

“I thought so too.” Butch smiled, but was startled by a high-pitch shriek coming from inside of the apartment. “What’s going on in there?”

“We’re watching _Linden Street_.” Ava said.

Butch shrugged his shoulders. “Never heard of it. What’s it about?”

“It’s about that pre-war serial killer, the Pint-Sized Slasher.”

“Cool… cool…” Butch took one hand out of his pocket to point with his thumb. “Can we talk out here for a minute?”

“One minute. No more, no less.” Ava stepped out into the hallway, letting the door close behind her.

“Last night…”

“Let’s not talk about that ever again.” Ava curled her lip. “I was pissed off about other things and it was a mistake.”

“It felt good.” Butch finished his earlier statement. “I wanted to know how you felt about us, but now I guess I know.”

“There is no “us”. Saying it out loud sounds stupid.”

“But it’s not impossible.” Butch thought aloud. “I was always an asshole to you and sometimes you were one to me, but all I ever knew was how to be a jerk to you. The only way I could talk to you was to piss you off. Then we were kind of nice to each other. I knew last night was just… in the moment, but I still thought it meant something more.”

Ava lowered her head. “It didn’t.”

“So, I guess you just sleep with any guy whenever you feel like it.”

“And if I did, what does it matter to you.” Ava said.

“I…” Butch rubbed his neck. “I need… I gotta go ice my face.”

Ava returned to her apartment and Butch walked further down the hall to get to his. When the door opened, he saw his mother sleeping on the sofa. Instead of glasses and bottles of alcohol on the table, there was a large box on the side of the coffee table. Pictures and trinkets were scattered across the table. Her eyes opened slowly when Butch entered the apartment. Ellen yawned and stretched her arms in the air as she brought herself to an upright position on the sofa. Butch smiled and chuckled when he saw her makeup smeared on her face and her messy hair.

“What’s so…” Ellen yawned. “…funny?”

“Your face,” Butch went into his mother’s bedroom to grab her hand mirror from the top of her dresser. “You look like a clown.”

“Goodness,” Ellen startled herself with her reflection, making Butch laugh even more. Her red lip stick had smeared onto her chin and up to her cheeks. Her eyeliner and mascara made dark rings under her eyes. Ellen sat the mirror down on the coffee table and Butch sat next to her on the couch. “But look who’s talking. At least my face isn’t black and blue.”

He picked up one of the photos. It was of an older man, around his mid-fifties or sixties. He had short greying hair that was swept back. His cheeks drooped and he had a grey mustache above his slightly downturned lips. His lightly tanned skin was marked with wrinkles on his forehead and crow’s feet around his brown eyes.

“What’s all of this stuff, mom?” Butch asked.

“I was trying to find the rations I saved in here to get a drink, but I think I used them a while ago.” Ellen looked over to see the picture that Butch held. “That’s your grandfather, Vincent DeLoria. He was around when you were a baby. He loved you so much.”

“When did he die?” Butch sat the photo down.

“When you were two. It hurt, being alone.” Ellen started to move to the edge of the sofa to get up. “I need a drink.”

“Wait.” Butch pointed at another picture. “Is that you?”

Ellen stayed on the sofa and reached over to grab the photo. It was of three teenagers, a girl and two boys. They sat on the same sofa that Ellen and Butch were on. The girl had straight, long blonde hair that reached her lower back. Her plump pink lips were curled up into a delicate smile. She wore a pair of olive pre-war slacks, rolled up at the ankles and a tight white t-shirt. In the middle was one of the boys. He sat his elbows on his thighs and leaned forward. He wore a red, polka-dot party hat over his crew cut styled hair. He didn’t smile and his blue eyes glared directly at the camera. Next to him was another boy. He was laughing hysterically. His dark brown hair was styled in a pompadour and he wore a loose black muscle shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

“I was… fourteen in that picture.” Ellen tried to remember. “The one in the middle, that’s your uncle, Anthony. The one on the right is your uncle Santino, that’s where you get your middle name from. Why are you interested in all of this?”

“You never talk about it, mom.”

“There’s no point in telling you about things that I don’t want to think about.” Ellen patted Butch’s thigh and then slowly lifted up from the sofa.

“Where are going?”

“If I can't drink, then I'm going to bed."

* * *

“That movie gave me nightmares.” Amata brought both of her hands over her chest. She and Ava walked into the classroom. Christine Kendall was the only student inside before they arrived. “It’s scary to think that the Pint-Sized Slasher is still out there… somewhere.”

“Amata, I’m pretty sure he’s dead by now.” The girls took their seats at their assigned desks.

“Yeah, unless Monica is decides to dress up like him for Halloween.” Amata said.

“When’s that again?”

“It’s eight days away, so the Vault Student Council has a lot of planning to do.”

It took a few minutes for the rest of the desks to be filled out by the rest of the students. Once it was time to start the class, Mr. Brotch walked to the center of the classroom and said, “October 23, 2077, an important day in history for our Vault.”

Butch leaned back in his chair and squint his eyes as he thought, “Wasn’t that the Battle of Haystack you were talking about last week?”

Mr. Brotch sighed, “The Battle of _Hastings_ , Mr. DeLoria, and that occurred in 1066. 2077 was the end of the world. Tell me, are you really that stupid?” Mr. Brotch continued on with his lesson before Butch could reply. “October 23, 2077 was the day that the world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation. Though more importantly, today marks Founder’s Day, the annual commemoration of our beloved Overseer.”

“We’re just going to ignore the Great War and act as if the Overseer is more important?” Ava asked.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Miss Jurado.” Mr. Brotch said. “Just as Beatrice Armstrong does every year for this holiday, we will be writing poems. You can work alone, in groups, in pairs. It doesn’t matter.”

None of the students were working on the poems and it didn’t bother Mr. Brotch. Ava turned her desk around to be able to face Amata. Amata used her paper to brainstorm her ideas to celebrate Halloween within the Vault. “Initially, I wanted to do something just for our class, but I think having a party for the entire Vault will be better. We can do it in the atrium now that it’s cleaned up.”

“What about the diner?” Ava thought. “It’s smaller, but there’s already food, a jukebox, and places for people to sit.”

Amata smiled. “That’s perfect. This is why I wanted you to be a part of the student council.”

“It’s not my thing.” Ava started sketching on her piece of paper. “Neither are parties, so don’t expect me to go.”

“You’re going and you’re dressing up in your best costume.”

“Don’t worry, my costume is amazing.” Ava said.

“Tell me what it is.”

“I’m going as a Vault dweller.”

Amata light slapped Ava’s arm. “No, you can’t do that. You need a real costume.”

“Amata…”

“And,” Amata raised her index finger to stop Ava from talking. “I need to see it and approve it.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Yes, I’m crazy, for wanting you to get in the spirit of Halloween.”


	9. Pint-Sized

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's "funny" brief written smut in this chapter... well, I found it funny in my head. I don't know if you'll find it funny, but I still hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Plastic pumpkins, paper cutouts of black cats, ghosts made from tissue, cotton spider webs and plastic black widows. There was nothing scary about the pre-war Halloween decorations that Amata was able to find, but the diner still fit the theme of the holiday. Some tables were covered with orange dining cloths, others had black cloths. On the bar was jar full of bubblegum, a bowl of red punch, potato crisps, and a plate of caramel coated Dandy Boy Apples. The jukebox had a tape of pre-war Halloween themed records. Through the speakers, Warren Zevon’s song, _Werewolves Of London_ , played loudly. In the kitchen; Old Lady Palmer made pumpkin shaped cookies. Not many residents attended the party, but those who did made some attempt to dress up for the occasion.

Amata flipped through the songs in the jukebox and Ava leaned on the side of the machine, drinking a cup of punch. The two girls wore matching pre-war black tuxedos and boots. Amata let her hair down and it fell to her back. On the top of her head, she wore a black fedora with a red paper mache rose pinned on to it. Ava wore her loose wavy hair down and it reached just above her shoulders. She had her rose glued onto a hair pin to clip in her hair, close to her ear. Ava did the same makeup for the both of them; neutral eyeshadow, black cat-eyeliner, and red lips. Bold, but simple.

“How are you enjoying the party, Beatrice?” Amata turned around to ask the woman that shook her hips to the pre-war song. Beatrice was dressed in a vault suit that had been dyed black and did her makeup to be reminiscent of a cat. Attached to her black headband were two cat ears made from paper.

“It’d be better if that one would loosen up a bit.” Beatrice reached her arm out towards Ava. “Put the cup down and have some fun.”

“I’m gonna go get something to eat.” Ava walked away to the bar.

“Is she okay?” Beatrice asked.

“It’s that time of the month.” Amata said. “So, I heard you went on a date with Mr. Brotch.”

“Edwin,” Beatrice’s voice came out as a soft whisper. She smiled at the thought of the teacher. “He’s such a wonderful man. We sat and talked all night. It was peaceful.”

All of the barstools were occupied by Monica, Michael Holden, and Agnes Taylor. Michael Holden dressed up as a vampire and Agnes dressed as an officer. She wore her husband’s bullet proof vest and security belt over her jumpsuit. Ava leaned on the bar next to Monica, who wore a clown mask that was nearly identical to the Pint-Sized Slasher’s. “You’re a sick kid.” Ava flicked the red nose of the mask before grabbing a handful of potato crisps.

Monica lowered her voice and made it as raspy as she could. “Watch your back. You never know if a knife might get stabbed into it.”

Ava swallowed the chips that were in her mouth. “If you kill me, my ghost will haunt you forever.”

Susie used her hand to block Monica from her view. “Chrissy, your little sister is freaking me out. Couldn’t you have stopped her from wearing that thing?”

“Hey, be happy that I took the knife away from her.” Christine said.

The cousins that sat at a booth together, eating the Salisbury steak that Old Lady Palmer made. Christine dressed as a fighter. She wore her hair in a short ponytail. She dressed in a tank top and a pair of loose shorts. Her feet were wrapped with gauze and she wore fingerless gloves. Susie dressed as the doll that she had as child. She braided her hair in pigtails, with ribbons tied at the end, and wore a puff sleeved blue dress, white stockings, and black ankle-strap shoes.

Christine cocked her head sideways and rubbed her neck. She did this as a way to quickly glance over towards the booth where the Tunnel Snakes sat. All of the boys wore their usual clothes, but had masks that they positioned on the back of their head so they could eat.

Christine kept her voice low. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Chrissy, I can’t guess what you’re thinking.” Susie cut a piece of steak.

“You know what I’m talking about.” Christine said.

Susie stopped cutting her steak. “I know a lot of things. What you’re talking about is not one of them.”

“I’m talking about you and…” Christine cleared her throat.

“You can say his name.” Susie smirked. “We’re talking. When I left to use the bathroom during the movie, Butch was just leaving the restroom. We started talking and just hit it off. Don’t tell Wally, though. He can find out when me and Butch are actually dating, then he can be as mad as he wants to be.”

“So, you didn’t hook up with Butch last week?”

“No…” Susie sat her utensils on her plate. “What do you know, Christine?”

“Nothing, I thought you did. I had some left over condoms from when me and Butch…” Christine quickly backtracked. “Butch borrowed condoms from me and I thought you guys got together.”

“From what you said, it sounds like you did something with him.” Susie squint her eyes.

“He’s not my type. I told you that, Susie. When we had to do job training, Butch and I were at the clinic. I forgot why he was there, but I needed some band aids. There was a bin of condoms for anyone to take and we took some for fun.” Christine lied.

“If Butch took some for himself, why would he go to you?” Susie asked.

“Go ask him, he’s the one that’s hooking up with other girls.”

Susie looked over to where the Tunnel Snakes sat again, but only Freddie and Wally sat at the table.

Butch and Paul walked slowly through the halls outside of the diner. Butch held his mask in his hand. It was a red exaggerated face of a devil. Paul let his skull mask dangle around his neck and stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. “Is your mom doing okay?”

“She hasn’t been drinking lately.” Butch answered.

“That’s good that she’s getting clean.” Paul smiled. “She’s cool when she’s not hammered.”

“She’s not clean. She can’t drink because we’re out of rations. I only came to this party to be able to eat.”

“Man, if you need rations, you know I got you.”

Butch shook his head. “I can’t do that. It’s not like I could pay you back.”

“You won’t have to pay me back. Brothers look out for each other, always. _So_ …” Paul dragged out the word. “Do you want a roommate?”

“What?”

“It’s Freddie. He keeps telling me his parents are fighting real bad and he wants to leave, but my parents won’t let him stay another night at my place. My mom doesn’t want to strain her relationship with Mrs. Gomez.”

Butch sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

“You okay, man? This past week you’ve been depressing to hang around.” Paul took his hands out of his pockets and hovered them over Butch’s head. “It’s like you have a rain cloud up here.”

Butch shrugged. “I got a lot on my mind.”

“Like how are you gonna graduate if your failing Brotch’s class.” Paul brought his hands back into his pockets.

“I got a lot on my mind, except for that.” Butch looked down at the devil mask he held. “I mean, we already got our jobs. What’s the point in graduating at all?”

“To make our parents proud,” Paul guessed. “But what was on your mind?”

“Huh? Oh… it’s nothing.”

“It seemed like something.”

“It was nothing, Paulie.”

“Well if it’s nothing. Let’s talk about something else.”

“Shoot.” Butch said.

“Ava looked hot. You think she’ll go out with me? We did have our first kiss together.” Paul’s question stopped Butch in his tracks.

“Don’t waste your time. She’s not looking for anything right now.”

“You’re right. For all we know, she might not be into guys. Her and Amata are pretty close.” Paul smirked. “I’m busting your balls, Butchie. I know you like her.”

“You don’t know anything.” Butch started walking down the hall.

“You didn’t deny it.” Paul smiled and wrapped his arm around Butch’s shoulders. “If you guys had kids, they’d be the meanest, angriest little shits to live in the Vault.”

“Paulie,” Butch rose his voice and sighed. “She told me that _we_ were never gonna be a thing. She said it was a mistake.”

“What do you like about her?” Paul asked.

Butch thought about the question. Even though he knew how to push her buttons, he didn’t know anything about Ava. She knew little about him as well. She wasn’t around during times when he needed someone close, but he could always count on her to give him the attention that he craved. Their night in the atrium only fed that crave more. Every kiss felt genuine and when she held onto him, he wanted more.

Paul’s Pip-Boy lit up. He tapped on the screen to see a new message from his mother. “My mom wants me to drop off my dad’s lunch to him.”

“You want me to go with you?” Butch asked.

“It’s fine. I’ll be right back, man.”

Butch watched as Paul walked further down the hall and turned the corner to get to the staircase. Butch could hear the pre-war song, _Monster Mash_ , bounce off the walls in the corridor as he made his way back to the diner. Beatrice, Amata, Susie, Agnes, and Christine danced by the jukebox. Wally and Freddie ate another serving of steak. Mr. Brotch sat at one of the booth seats drinking a Nuka-Cola and Monica sat with Michael at the booth and scared him with horror stories.

Butch weaved his way through the dancefloor to get to the bar. He sat at a barstool and called out Old Lady Palmer’s name, but it was Ava who walked out from the pantry holding two packs of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes. She sat them on the bar next to the caramel apples. “She left to bring food to Jonas.”

“He’s too lazy to come here?”

“He’s on house arrest, like my dad.” Ava explained. “So, what do you want?”

Butch tapped his fingers on the bar. “I want to know why you don’t think we’d be good together.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Ava grabbed a Nuka-Cola for herself to drink.

“I do.” Butch stayed firm. “I really like you. I want to be with you, but it's like you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you.” Ava said.

“Then why was being with me a mistake?” It didn’t matter if Butch tried to keep his voice low or not, no one could hear him and Ava over the music. “Can you at least answer that?”

“I don’t want another reason to stay here.” Ava sighed. “Forget it, you wouldn’t understand.”

“I can try to.”

“I don’t remember much, but last year, I heard Jonas and my dad talking about this place called the Capital Wasteland. It’s outside of the Vault and there’s people living out there. If I get a chance to leave the Vault, I’m taking it. I know Amata won’t go and that hurts me enough. My dad, I’ll be leaving him too.” Ava avoided Butch’s eye contact. “I don’t want to admit to myself that I like you and I don’t want to love you. If I do that, that’s another person that I’ll regret leaving.”

“You do like me.” Butch reached his hand out for Ava to grab.

She placed her hand in his and Butch gently rubbed his thumb over her hand. “Is that all you got out of that?”

Butch smiled. “No, you said that you love the Butch-man.”

“I said that I don’t want to love you.” Ava corrected him.

“I want to. I want to love you, right here.” Butch lowered his voice.

“What is that even supposed to mean?” Ava asked.

“I’d push all of this stuff off and back you up against the bar.” Butch imagined.

Ava raised her eyebrow. “Then what, I push you back?”

“No.” Butch licked his lips. “You unzip my jumpsuit. I’m kissing you’re neck. Then I’ll unzip you.”

“You can’t. I’m wearing a tank top.” Ava tried to ruin his imagination.

Butch nodded his head. “I’ll pull it over your head…”

“Just rip it off.”

Butch’s hand gripped tighter around Ava’s. “It’s ripped. It’s off.”

“You want me to moan?” Ava tried to hold back her laughter when Butch quickly nodded his head. His eyes were shut tight as he imagined everything in his head. “Okay, sure. I’ll moan your name.”

“I’m hard right now.” Butch said quietly. He slowly opened his eyes. He shifted himself in his seat. “I’m being serious… I’m hard right now.”

Ava smiled. “Really? You must’ve imagined more than what you were saying.”

“Kind of.”

Ava rubbed her hand on Butch’s arm. “Put it inside me.”

“Alright, now you’re just teasing me.” Butch took a deep breath and pulled his arm away from Ava. He slowly lifted himself from the barstool. He took off his leather jacket and tied it around his waist.

“Finish up in the bathroom, lover boy.” Ava picked up her Nuka-Cola.

It wasn’t long until the Overseer had ordered for the party to be shut down. Monica went missing, so Christine left to look for her. Old Lady Palmer helped put away the leftover food before going home. Mr. Brotch escorted Michael Holden and Beatrice home and Butch told Freddie that he could spend the night at his house. Butch sent him the code to unlock the front door.

Wally gave up waiting for Susie and had already started walking home. She stood beside the table of the booth that Butch sat at. “I really liked your costume.”

“It was just a devil mask.”

“It was cool and simple.” Susie smiled. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

Amata piled up the dishes inside of the kitchen sink.  “My father is such an asshole.”

“Oh, so you can say it, but I can’t.” Ava opened the fridge to grab another Nuka-Cola.

Amata lightly punched Ava in her arm and smiled. “Whatever… he never understands that we need fun around here.”

“I think he’s loosening up a little. Think about it, the party lasted about two hours. They usually last for fifteen minutes.” Ava popped off the cap to the drink.

“I bet it’s because he forgot about it. There weren’t that much of us in here. I think I should go talk to him.” Amata sat her fedora on the counter and started her way out of the diner.

“Don’t forget to tell him he’s an asshole.” Ava pointed in Amata’s direction.

“No. Way. You can do it yourself, if you really want to get locked up again.”

“You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?” Ava walked out of the kitchen and leaned on the bar.

“Not until you do something else stupid!” Amata yelled out so Ava could hear her from the halls.

Butch got up from his seat and concealed his hands in his pockets. “Just wait until she finds out that you like me, unless you decide this was a mistake tomorrow.”

Ava sat her Nuka-Cola down. “I’m pretty indecisive.”

“Then how are you going to leave the Vault?” Butch walked over to the jukebox.

“I have to suck it up and deal with whatever happens.” Ava said.

“And that’s _if_ you can leave. The Vault’s never been open since the Great War.” Butch pressed a button on the jukebox and the soft vocals of a pre-war singer began to croon the first verse. Butch hummed along and sang the beginning of the chorus off-key. “Be my, be my baby… c’mon, it’s a good song. I know you like it too. I heard you singing it once.”

“Butch,” Ava couldn’t help but smile when Butch kept trying to sing along to the song. He closed the gap between him and Ava and held her hands. “This can’t happen.”

“You’re killing me, Ava. We don’t know when that door’s gonna open and when that it does happen, I’ll go with you and protect you. You’re my girl.” Butch pulled Ava closer to wrap his arms around her. They were going to kiss, but the lights suddenly cut off inside of the diner. “Not this shit again.”

The diner door closed and Butch turned on the flashlight to his Pip-Boy, even though they had enough light from the window that looked out to the lit hallway. They both heard footsteps coming from the back of the diner. Ava turned around and swore she saw a dark figure, but there was no one there. Butch and Ava walked over to the door, but it was locked.

“I swear if Wally’s up to this, I’m gonna kill him.” Butch bashed his fist on the door. “Open the door! This isn’t funny!”

The song on the jukebox cut off and the machine powered down, but what sounded like a record scratching echoed in the room. The high-pitch scream that bounced off of the walls made Ava and Butch hold their ears, until it stopped.

“Go check it out.” Ava whispered.

“No way, what if it’s a radroach?”

“Does it sound like that’s a radroach?” Ava slapped Butch on his bicep. “And you just said you’d protect me.”

“It was a mistake.” Butch mimicked Ava’s voice.

The footsteps grew closer, but stop by the booth seat that was the closest to the door. Butch directed his flashlight towards the seat. He and Ava were met with sinister smile of the Pint-Sized Slasher. They stared, frozen where they stood. The clown stood on the booth seat and a sharp chef knife that was covered in red liquid that could only be blood. The Slasher stabbed the knife through the seat and Ava screamed. She banged her hands on the door, pleading for help. The Slasher pulled their knife from the seat and quickly disappeared back into the shadows of the diner. Rather than try to play hero, Butch smashed his fists into the window.

Amata could hear the faint sound of screaming from diner and hurried footsteps from behind her. “Amata!” It was Christine. She caught up to Amata in the hall and asked, “Have you seen Monica? I looked all over the Vault. I can’t find her.”

“No, I haven’t. Maybe she’s at home.” Amata thought.

“She’s not there. I checked.”

“Maybe she… oh my gosh,” Amata ran over to the diner window when she saw the Tunnel Snake punching the glass. Ava pushed him aside to get to the window. “Ava, what’s going on?”

“Open the door!” Ava cried out.

Amata ran over to the diner door and unlocked the door as fast as she could. When the door opened, Ava and Butch ran out into the hall. Ava held tightly onto Amata. Her eyes squint so much, they were nearly shut. Her heart pounded in her chest and she couldn’t catch her breath. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her mouth stretched out into downturned smile. Amata tried not to laugh. She always thought Ava made an ugly expression when she cried and it never failed to make Amata laugh.

“What happened in there?” Amata stroked her hand through Ava’s hair.

Butch yelled and stumbled over his own feet. Amata looked up to see the Pint-Sized Slasher slowly walking out of the diner holding the chef knife.

“Monica!” Christine called out. “I’ve been running around this Vault looking all over for you.”

“Chrissy, I was having fun.” Monica’s voice was muffled by the clown mask.

Ava let go of Amata. “You little brat!”

Monica laughed. “I told you to watch your back.” Ava marched over to the young girl and pulled the mask from her head. “Give it back!” Monica tried to reach for the mask.

Ava threw the mask onto the floor, cracking it on the side. She finished it off by stomping her foot through it. “Give me the knife!” Ava held her hand out.

Monica grunted and stomped her feet on the floor. “Monica.” Christine said her name again. “Give her the knife, or I’m telling mom and dad.”

“Fine.” Monica hesitantly handed the knife to Ava. She pouted and crossed her arms. “It was a joke.”

“You didn’t have to smash her mask.” Amata knelt down and picked up what was left of the mask. “But I’d probably do the same thing if a little girl pretended to stalk and try to kill me.”

Ava sighed. “I hate Halloween.”


	10. Just A Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after the song by No Doubt.

Susie’s throat was dry from her crying. Her nails dug into her skin as she clutched her hands over her lower abdomen. She squirmed around her bed, unable to lie comfortably in one position. Any time she tried to stand up to pace back and forth, a sharp pain would send her down to her knees.

The door to her bedroom slid open. Susie groaned at the sight of her mother entering the room. “Susan, get up. Your father and brothers will be home in a few hours.”

Susie burrowed her head into one of her pillows. “I can’t… get… up, mom.”

Gloria’s heels clanked against the steel floor as she walked over to Susie’s nightstand. There was used, balled up tissue sitting next to an open bottle of pills and an overturned near-empty bottle of water. “What have I told you about keeping your room clean?”

“It’s not even dirty.” Susie whined as she lifted up to change her position to lie on her back.

“Get up, clean your mess, and help with dinner preparations.” Gloria tucked her hair behind her ear. “By the time your father and brothers come home, they should be able to come home and eat.”

“Mom, please. I need a little res…” Susie gasped from the sharp pain that hit her in her lower abdomen.

Gloria sat on the edge of Susie’s bed. “Know your place, Susan. In order to be a good wife in the future, you need to learn how to think about your husband and family before yourself. Your father deals with stressful situations at work. He wouldn’t want to come home to witness this; neither would your future spouse. Our duty as women and a wife is to please our husband and have a home of order and peace for him.”

* * *

_The lights of the Nuka-Cola logo on the vending machine flickered on and off. Inside were ten bottles of the popular soda. They were room temperature and fizzed when the bottle cap was twisted off. Catherine brought the bottle to her full lips, but didn’t drink anything when she noticed James heading her way. She sat the bottle down on one of her colleague’s desk next to the machine._

_“Catherine, you can’t keep drinking that. It’s unhealthy for you and the baby.” James said. “Madison and I went over this with you.”_

_Catherine slowly rubbed her hand over her large, protruding stomach underneath the blue RobCo jumpsuit she wore. The corners of her lips curled up and she flashed a gummy smile, “It’s not my fault that the baby wanted it.” Her brief smile faded at the sight of her husband’s lips tightening. “I was joking, but you need to relax. Jameson and I are doing fine.”_

_James loosened his firm lips and smirked. “Jameson.”_

_Catherine grabbed her Nuka-Cola. “If our baby is a boy, I’d want to name him after his father.”_

_The intense lighting in the building highlighted Catherine’s bronze skin as James followed her to get to her desk. On the desk were a terminal, a Vault-Tec bobble head, stacked files, a framed photo of Revelation 21:6 and a framed photograph of Catherine and James on their wedding day from months ago. They both loathed the picture. In the photograph, Catherine looked the same; she even wore her typical split curls hairstyle. James, one the other hand, had his hair slicked back in the photo and insisted on keeping the pencil thin mustache, regardless of Catherine’s protests. After their wedding photo was taken, he saw how ridiculous the mustache was and shaved it off._

_James pulled out the chair at the desk for Catherine. “If Jameson is for a boy, what if our baby turns out to be a girl?” James leaned against the desk._

_Catherine sat her Nuka-Cola on the desk. She scooted herself closer to the desk and logged onto the terminal. “Estelle.”_

_“Did you consider my mother’s name as well?” James asked._

_“I thought about it, but...” Catherine shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, James. My mother, she wouldn’t take kindly to that.”_

_“Your mother isn’t our child’s only grandparent.” James said._

_“If you tell that to her, she’ll say that she’s the only living one.”_

_“It’s all the more reason to honor my late mother by naming our firstborn after her. Your mother can be honored with the second one.” James thought for a moment. “We can always combine the names. Lourdes Estelle.”_

_“I don’t think so.”_

_“We have to make a decision, Catherine.”_

_Catherine turned her chair to be able to face James. She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. He could feel the slight kicks the baby made. “We’ll know what’s right when the time comes.”_

_“Or maybe the baby can help us decide.” James kept his hand on Catherine and knelt down to talk to the baby. “Sweetheart, if you are a girl… or you’re a boy with a very strong opinion, I need you kick once if you like Lourdes or kick twice if you like Estelle.”_

_Nearly fifteen minutes passed since James’ request. “I think not kicking means that the baby doesn’t like either name, but I’m craving more Nuka-Cola and potato crisps. So, at least we know that the baby likes something.”_

_“Cravings don’t work that way, Catherine. It has to do with…” James stopped what he was saying. His eyes met Catherine’s. “Would you like me to go get you a bag of unhealthy, slightly radiated potato crisps?”_

_“Please, and thank you.” Catherine smiled._

* * *

The sound of Ava crumpling her empty bag of potato crisps made Mr. Brotch stop talking near the end of his lesson. “If you don’t mind, Miss Jurado, I’d like to inform the class of the newest project.” Ava crumpled the bag one more time before getting up to throw it away. Once she returned to her desk, Mr. Brotch continued with his lesson. “This assignment will instill important life-lessons for each of you. For the weekend, you will be parents to your very own baby.”

“Is this a trick by the Overseer to force reproduction?” Christine asked.

“It’s not a trick, Miss Kendall.” Mr. Brotch grabbed a small metal box from his desk. There were slips of paper with a number, from one through four, for them to choose at random.

Butch could see Ava’s paper since he sat in the back of the row and noticed that Freddie had the same as hers. “Freddie, let’s switch.”

Freddie turned around in his seat. “Sure, man.”

Mr. Brotch stood in front of the chalkboard. “When I call your name, I want you to say your number and we’ll find out who our partners are. Christine what did you get?”

“Three.” She answered.

Amata held her hand up and said, “I’m three.”

Mr. Brotch pointed at Ava to say her number. “Four.”

“Looks like we’re partners.” Butch smirked.

“I got number two.” Paul said before Mr. Brotch called on anyone else.

“Hey, we’re parents, man.” Freddie raised his hand in the air and they air high-fived from across the classroom.

Wally furrowed his brows and threw his paper to the floor. “I’m not having a kid with my sister.”

“Ain’t that incest, Mr. Brotch?” Butch laughed.

“Susie and Ava, you two switch partners. You will all be graded based on parental responses that the baby will record and send to my terminal.” Mr. Brotch went behind his desk to grab a bin filled with pre-war baby dolls and diaper bags. He explained that they belonged to the first child residents of the Vault, but were reconstructed for this assignment to teach those that assisted the former doctor and acted as babysitters for infants. “With that said, class is dismissed.”

The classroom filled with the cries from the baby that Wally dangled by its arm. He threw it in the air and it landed on the floor by Ava’s feet.

“This is going to be interesting.” Mr. Brotch said to himself.

Ava picked up the doll from the floor. There wasn’t any visible damage to it.

“Is the baby, okay?” Amata gently stroked her hand over the baby doll’s head, making it cry once again.

Susie strapped the diaper bag over her shoulder and cradled her baby in her arms as she headed towards Butch. “Did you want me to come by your house later or maybe, you can come by mine? We can go over the guidelines for the assignment and figure out how we’re going to do this.”

“You wanna head over to your place right now?” Butch asked.

“Sure, yeah, we can.” Susie nodded her head and together they started walking through the Vault to get to the Mack residence.

“You want me to hold it?”

“What? No.” Susie adjusted the baby in her arms. “I can hold Rebecca.”

“You named it already.”

“It’s one of the names I picked for my future daughter.” Susie said. “Hopefully, I can have her after we graduate.”

“But we’re gonna start out jobs. You want a kid that early?”

“The G.O.A.T. said that I’m going to be a teacher, but that’s not what I plan on doing. I’m going to be a full-time mom and wife. Just like my mother.”

The Mack’s apartment was vacant, until Susie and Butch arrived. Susie knew that her father and Stevie were at work. She figured Wally would be hanging out with Paul and Freddie after class and her mother had another book club meeting to attend.

Butch had only ever been at the Mack’s apartment once before and that was years ago and forgot how much larger their home was compared to his. There were four bedrooms and they even had their own private bathroom. The living room was large enough to have a sofa and a loveseat, with a coffee table decorated with a pot of flowers. There was a television and stacks of pre-war television shows and movies. The dining room was separate from the spacious kitchen, which was stocked with just as much food as the diner had.

“No way, Wally never told you me that you guys have _Manta Man: The Animated Series_.” Butch picked up the holotape from the stack.

“I never knew you were into superhero shows.” Susie said.

“Manta Man is my favorite. Grognak is fucking overrated.”

“Try telling that to everyone else in the Vault.” Susie lied Rebecca down on the sofa. She left for the kitchen, but the baby doll cried out from being left alone. Butch turned around and picked it up, but Susie quickly ran over and grabbed Rebecca from Butch, rocking the baby to get it to stop crying.

“Susie, it’s alright. I can do it.” Butch reached his hands out, but Susie backed away from him.

“I can handle it, Butch. You can go ahead and watch the Manta Man show. I can take care of the baby.” Susie paced back and forth, occasionally whispering to the baby doll, begging for it to stop crying.

Butch hesitantly inserted the holotape into the television set. He sat on the sofa to relax and watch the show, but it was hard to do with the doll crying. It went on for hours, until Susie had to use the restroom and asked Butch to hold Rebecca. He lied the doll down and changed its diaper, which was basically swapping the one it already had on with another one from the diaper bag. No actual cleaning required.

“How’d you get her to stop crying?” Susie asked once she stepped out of the bathroom.

“Dirty diaper… well, it wasn’t dirty.” Butch held the doll into the air. “You know, I could watch this thing for tonight if you want. Then you can have it tomorrow.”

“You’re getting attached to Rebecca, aren’t you?”

“No, you look overwhelmed. That’s all.” Butch said.

“I’m not. I can keep her. It’s not hard at all.” Butch handed the doll to Susie.

Butch sighed. “If that’s what you want. I’m gonna be in the lounge if you need me.”

* * *

Paul and Freddie sat in the Tunnel Snakes’ lounge in the atrium. They sat on the sofa and kicked their feet on the table in front of them. Sitting in between them was their doll, which they affectionately named Gannon. They read comic books and offered a Manta Man comic book to Butch when he entered the room. Butch accepted the comic. He sat on the floor with his back pressed against the couch.

“Being a dad is pretty easy.” Paul turned a page in his Femme-Ra comic.

“We don’t really have to raise it or anything, Paul. We just have to keep it from crying. Now that I think about it, ours hasn’t cried since we got it, even when you accidentally dropped it down the stairs.” Freddie tossed his comic to the table and grabbed the doll. He turned it around where the batteries were located to see that there weren’t any inside. “There’s no batteries in here. Does this mean we failed?”

“Let’s act like we don’t know and Mr. Brotch might give us a good grade.” Paul said.

“You’re right.” Freddie sat the doll back on the couch.

“Hey, man.” Paul slightly kicked Butch to get his attention. “Why aren’t you with Susie?”

“She said she could handle it. Even when I was there she wouldn’t let me do anything.” Butch said.

* * *

Monica held her hands over her ears to block out the sound of Susie’s doll crying. She sat on the couch with Christine inside of the Mack’s apartment. Susie held onto the doll with one hand to be able to drag her father’s basket of dirty work clothes. Usually her mother washed the clothes, but whenever she was gone it was Susie’s responsibility. “Can’t your dad clean his own clothes?” Christine said as she watched Susie drag the basket through the living room where she and Monica sat.

Susie ignored Christine and whispered to the doll. “Please, stop crying Becca.”

“Make it shut up!” Monica screamed.

“I’m trying!” Susie snapped at her.

“Susie, did you check on the food in the oven?” Christine sniffed the air.

Susie’s eyes widened. She let go of the basket and ran over to the kitchen yelling, “Chrissy, why didn’t you remind me?”

“I thought you would remember.” Christine got up from the couch.

The heat of the oven blew across Susie’s face. She reached inside to grab the pan of macaroni and cheese. Her hand sizzled from the hot pan. Susie screamed and dropped the macaroni and the doll. The gooey food spilled all over the oven and a red burn covered Susie’s entire hand. Her hand shook erratically and she quickly went to the sink to soak it in cold water.

“Are you okay?” Christine ran into the kitchen.

“No.” Susie’s voice cracked. “This is stupid. It’s all stupid.”

Christine turned off the oven and picked up the doll. She turned it around and popped out the batteries to make it stop crying. “Susie, relax. I’ll help you make more food.”

“It’s not just the food. It’s everything.” Susie turned off the water. She wiped her wet hand onto her jumpsuit and made her way to the dining table to sit. She held her face in her hands. “My period cramps hurt… and the baby won’t stop crying.”

“I stopped it.” Christine shook the batteries in her hand.

“But I couldn’t. I’m not going to be a good wife or mom.” Susie rubbed at her eyes to keep herself from crying.

Christine took a seat at the table. “Susie, it’s a fake baby.”

“That makes it worse, Chrissy. If I can’t take care of a fake one, how can I take care of my own? A woman is supposed to know these things and make sure everything is perfect for her husband.”

“Who told you that?” Christine asked.

“My mom,” Susie answered.

“Of course, she did.” Christine slightly nodded her head. “Susie, do you want this for your life?”

“Chrissy…”

“Answer the question.” Christine said.

Susie took a deep breath. “Butch offered to help me and take the doll, but I wouldn’t let him. I needed to know that I could do everything that my mom says a woman is supposed to do. It was hell. I… I don’t want this for my life anytime soon. I think… I need to find out what I want, what makes me happy. I don’t want to think about my mom’s expectations or Butch or anything, except myself.”

* * *

_Catherine rubbed her hands back and forth over her thighs. She sat at her desk and took deep breaths. Occasionally, she’d squeeze her hand around her Vault-Tec bobble head any time she felt an excruciating cramp in her lower abdomen. A pair of heels clanked on the floor. The sound of them grew louder and stopped beside Catherine._

_“Madison.” Catherine knew who it was without looking away from her terminal._

_“The tests were inconclusive again.” Madison sat a stack of papers onto the desk._

_“The re-calibration didn’t work?” Catherine asked._

_“I wouldn’t be here speaking to you if it worked. I’m having Dargon take another look at the re-calibrations to see what went wrong.” Madison watched Catherine squeeze her eyes shut and whisper out a curse. “Unless you plan on giving birth at your desk, you need to get to the medical room right now.”_

_“I’m not ready.” Catherine said. “I’m only seven centimeters.”_

_“That was two hours ago, Cat.” Madison rubbed her hand on Catherine’s back._

_Catherine bit her bottom lip. Her eyes watered, but her tears didn’t roll down her cheeks until she squeezed her eyes shut again. “I’m not ready. I need James.”_

_“You can’t hold your legs together forever. That baby is coming and you need medical attention. Holt!” Madison called out the surname of the scientist that walked passed them. The young woman looked up from her notes to hear what Madison wanted. “Where is James?”_

_“I saw him with Star Paladin Cross outside of the Memorial.” She said._

_“Get him now and bring him to the clinic!” Madison yelled. She turned her attention back to Catherine and helped her out of her chair._

_They walked at a slow pace to clinic. It was located in the sub-basement. There wasn’t much use for the room. It was cluttered with obsolete equipment and a broken Nuka-Cola vending machine. The examination table sat in the middle of the room covered in boxes. Next to it was a table with a tray of medical tools. Madison removed the boxes and sat them against the Nuka-Cola machine, while Catherine stripped from her clothes before she lied on the metal table. Madison quickly ran to the sleep quarters to grab a small, thin blanket that she spread over Catherine._

_“Catherine!” The two women could hear James’ voice echo through the sub-basement._

_“I need you to spread your legs.” Madison pulled up a chair to be able to sit at the end of the table. Catherine did as Madison requested. The large mass that Catherine felt in between her legs made her want to push. She wanted the pain to be gone and it was the only option that she knew would get rid of it fast enough._

_“Catherine.” James caught his breath in the doorway. He saw how much pain Catherine was in as she pushed with Madison’s encouragement, but James couldn’t help but smile. They were going to have the first of many children to come. He walked further into the clinic and stood at Catherine’s side. Her hand shook as he placed it in his. He stroked her hair and kissed her on her forehead. “You’re doing great, sweetheart.”_

_Catherine whimpered at the mass in between her legs. Her opening stretched and a burning sensation came over her._

_“James, I need you to hold her leg up.” Madison said. “Catherine, don’t push. The baby’s head is crowning.”_

_James let go of Catherine’s hand to be able to hold her leg. He reminded her to keep breathing, repeated how much he loved her, and expressed how proud he was. Catherine was too much pain to acknowledge all that James said. She was out of energy and the pressure that emerged from her opening made her grip her hands around the metal table for support._

_“The baby’s head is out.” James smiled._

_“On three, I need you to push with all the energy you have.” Madison instructed. “One… two… three…”_

_Catherine clenched her teeth as she pushed. The surge of pain rushed through Catherine’s lower body as she felt her baby slip out from her. “It’s our baby, Catherine.” She heard James say and looked down at her spread legs. Madison held the back of the baby’s head and shoulders as it emerged from Catherine. The newborn’s skin was coated in a waxy white substance and blood._

_Catherine reached her hands out to grab the baby. Madison told her to push, but to her surprise Catherine began to pull the rest of the baby out of her. Catherine gasped. The baby whimpered and soon followed up with a scream. Catherine brought the baby to her chest. The baby’s hair was slicked down from the same substance that coated the rest of its body. James let go of her leg to wipe the substance from the baby. The baby clenched onto Catherine and screamed as James cleaned them._

_“Oh my gosh…” Madison glanced to the doorway of the clinic to see Holt and Dargon staring at the scene._

_“James, we need to cut the umbilical cord.” Madison said._

_Holt cooed at the crying newborn as she entered the room. “They’re so cute… and loud.”_

_“It’s a girl. We have a daughter, Catherine.” James cut the umbilical cord and helped wrapped the baby within the blanket that covered Catherine. “She’s a beautiful, healthy baby girl.”_

_Catherine gently stroked the baby’s cheek. Her cries lowered into soft whimpers. “You look just like your daddy.”_

_“Hi there,” James stroked his thumb on the baby’s head. “I’m your daddy sweetheart.”_

_The baby’s eyes opened halfway before closing again._

_“Did you two think of a name, yet? I gave plenty of suggestions.” Madison cleaned off the pair of surgical scissors used to cut the umbilical cord._

_“Nuka-Cola and Yum-Yum weren’t good suggestions, Madison.” Catherine took a deep breath and could feel her heart beating faster._

_“They were better than Lourdes Estelle.” Madison sat the scissors on the tray._

_“We thought about your name for a long time, sweetheart.” James watched his daughter squeeze her tiny hand around Catherine’s finger. “Ava Carmen Jurado.”_

_“James…” Catherine swallowed hard. She attempted to say his name once more, but the words wouldn’t come out. Her breathing was irregular and she felt her heart beat slowing down._

_“Catherine.” James looked up from the baby to see his wife’s eyes slowly opening and closing. “Catherine!”_

_“What’s wrong?” Madison ran to James’ side._

_“She’s in cardiac arrest.” James grabbed Ava from Catherine’s weak hold and handed her to Madison. The newborn stretched her arms around and screamed. “Get the baby out of here!”_

_“I’m staying! You need my help!” Madison raised her voice to be louder than the baby’s cries._

_“Madison, go!”_

* * *

Susie dangled the doll in one hand. The batteries were still out, so she didn’t have to worry about it crying uncontrollably. She thought about what her mother wanted for her; to be a young mother and a devoted housewife. There was nothing wrong with that aspiration, but Susie realized it wasn’t for her.

She was jealous of her older brothers. She had always been the one helping to take care of them and make their lives easier at home, but she realized that Stevie and Wally were just as pressured as she was. They had to follow in their father’s footsteps to be an officer inside of the Vault. It was the reason why Wally spent so much time figuring out how to outsmart the G.O.A.T. to get the job that was expected of him.

Susie glanced over to Butch, who stood next to her. She always thought he was dreamy. He represented what her parents disapproved of and that rush of rebellion is what made her want him. She was determined to be with him to have someone to make her happy and take her away from her responsibilities.

“In the end, I was living to fulfill the expectations of my family and wishing for someone to come by and save me from them. Instead of wishing for someone else to make me happy, I realized that I should find happiness within myself. Just because I’m expected to be a certain way or do specific things, doesn’t mean that I should settle and accept it. I have a choice and I choose to be an independent woman that’ll figure out how I want to live my own life.” Susie sat the doll on Mr. Brotch’s desk in front of the homework he graded.

She, along with Butch and Mr. Brotch were the only ones inside of the classroom. It was the weekend and he figured he could get some grading done without any distractions. He grabbed the doll and tossed it back into the bin. “You and Mr. DeLoria were unable to complete the assignment, but Miss Mack, what you said… it’s only right that you receive the highest grade possible for this assignment. Since you were her partner, Mr. DeLoria, I suppose you can receive that grade as well.”

“I never got an A before.” Butch crossed his arms. “I thought it’d be more satisfying, like when you don’t study and get a D.”

Mr. Brotch shook his head. “I don’t even want to know how that’s satisfying for you, Mr. DeLoria. Overall, amazing job Susie.”

“Thank you, Mr. Brotch.”


	11. All Things Pass into the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I deleted the last chapter I put up. I ended up not liking it at all or the direction it was going, so I wrote a new one. This chapter is named after a line in the song Goodbye Horses by Q Lazzarus.

_“I’ll wear your bones around my neck, puny humans!” The yelling was followed by heavy footsteps and a chain that dragged across the floor inside of the abandoned Super-Duper Mart. The chain was wrapped around the ankle of a well-armed Super Mutant. The large green brute’s mouth hung wide open as they breathed. Their yellowed teeth were stained with blood. It could have come from a human or a Brahmin. The mutant stopped in their tracks and looked up at a sign that hung from the ceiling and above one of the many counters in the supermarket._

_“Fresh… meat…” The mutant squint their beady eyes to read the sign. The mutant raised their assault rifle and laughed heartily as they unleased an entire clip from the weapon. The bullets pierced through the meat department sign. The mutant lowered his rifle and stopped laughing when he heard the sound of a baby crying from behind the meat department counter. “What is that?”_

_The mutant stomped over towards the counter to investigate and was met with a super sledge to their head. The assault rifle was knocked out from their grip and the mutant fell over to the floor. They rapidly shook their head and slowly picked themselves up from the floor._

_The dim lighting in the supermarket still reflected on the steel power armor. The armor was scratched and worn, but strong enough to protect Star Paladin Cross, who donned it. The only area the armor didn’t protect was Cross’s face. Her deep skin was covered in dust from the wasteland and scars from battle. Her dark brown eyes studied the mutant before her. The soldier’s hands were gripped tightly around a large super sledge that was covered in fresh blood from slamming against the mutant._

_“Buckethead!” The mutant cried out. Their voice was far more slurred from the blood that filled their mouth. “I’ll tear your arms apart, stupid human!”_

_Cross wasted no time in charging at the unarmed mutant. She winded the super sledge back and swung it out towards the mutant once she was in close range. The mutant screamed as the sledge bashed into their arm. The mutant lost their footing, allowing for Cross to get a better shot at the mutants head. Only one more swing from the sledge managed to completely bash the mutants face into nothing but a crushed skull, brain matter, and blood._

_“Clear,” Cross reported. She turned towards the meat department counter._

_From behind the counter, James appeared. He wore a large overcoat with a Brotherhood of Steel insignia printed on the shoulders and on the back. Cradled in his arms was his infant daughter, Ava, snuggled inside of a small blanket. She cried and struggled to kick her small legs within the confines of the blanket._

_“Sweetheart, the monster is gone. There’s no need to cry.” James softly whispered. It took a few minutes, but Ava’s cries lowered to soft whimpers before she finally calmed down. James slightly lowered his head to kiss his daughter on her forehead. A few strands of Ava’s straight, dark-brown hair slicked down onto her forehead. She was only a week old. It was hard for James to adjust himself to the hardships of being a new parent. Dark circles formed underneath his eyes from the lack of sleep. Though, somehow, his eyes still glimmered of life whenever he held his newborn close._

_Star Paladin Cross led James outside of the Super-Duper Mart. Waiting for them was the cool wind that spread across the Wasteland throughout the night. The moon and the stars shone brightly in contrast to the dark sky._

_“It’ll take us a few hours to get to Megaton.” Cross walked around the perimeter of the supermarket. Up the hill she spotted what was left of a small farmhouse. It wasn’t the nicest of shelters, but it was a home with a roof and walls to protect them during the night. “It isn’t good for the infant to be exposed to this temperature for long and you need rest. We can set up camp up the hill and head out towards Megaton in the morning.”_

_“No. We can’t risk being in mutant territory.” James said._

_“What about your baby?” Cross asked._

_“She’s strong, like her mother.” James glanced down towards Ava. Her puffy eyes slowly closed and she drifted off to sleep. James figured her nap would only last an hour or so._

_The gravel of the destroyed road crumbled underneath Cross and James’s boots. The hike up the hill took nearly two hours. On the way down, Cross pointed out a red, metal sign that appeared small from the distance. In mustard yellow paint the word “Megaton” was written onto the sign. Past the sign, they found themselves in the ruined town of Springvale. There was a Red Rocket filling station as soon as they entered the town. A destroyed pre-war vehicle sat underneath the large rusted Red Rocket structure. Slouched against a Nuka-Cola vending machine was a man._

_An arm sleeve and pant leg of his mechanic jumpsuit was torn. The fabrics were tied around his left bicep, as well as wrapped around his left thigh. The blood that wasn’t soaked into the fabric was dried onto his exposed skin. The man’s head was lowered and his disheveled, stringy hair covered his face. Besides him, propped against the vending machine, was a sawed-off shotgun. On the ground next to him was a small Australian Cattle Dog puppy that slept on a leather jacket. The puppy woke up to the sound of James and Cross approaching the Red Rocket station. The small dog ran towards the pair. Its growls and barks weren’t threating enough to stop Cross from cautiously walking closer to the man slouched against the vending machine._

_The man groaned as he lifted his head to see the puppy yapping at James. He cleared his throat before calling out, “Muggsie! Come here, girl.” At the sound of the man’s voice, the puppy ran back to him happily. She climbed over his left leg, making the man wince in pain. He glanced up towards the Brotherhood of Steel Paladin that stood in front of him. “This machine’s empty, I checked. If you want a Nuka-Cola, you’d have better luck in Megaton.”_

_“What’s your name civilian?” Cross asked._

_“Butch Cohen,” He answered._

_“Star Paladin Cross,” Cross introduced herself. She gestured her hand towards James and introduced him to Butch. “We’re heading towards Megaton. Did you want to accompany us?”_

_“Cross, this man is injured. He needs rest.” James said._

_“I smell like shit. I feel like shit. But Muggsie needs some food and there ain’t nothing for her out here.” Butch gently pushed Muggsie to get her off of his lap. She ran out towards James again and sniffed at his leg. Butch slowly picked himself up from the ground. Cross grabbed the man’s leather jacket and handed it to him. “Thanks.”_

_Megaton was in clear view from the Red Rocket filling station. Whether it was night or day, birds circled over the town. The lights strung across the scrap metal and plan wings, which made up the entrance, shone in the dark. Cross led the small group towards down the path towards the town. Muggsie ran ahead of the group, but stayed within Butch’s sight._

_“Where’d you come from, Cohen?” Cross addressed Butch by his surname._

_“We had some business in Paradise Falls.”_

_“You’re a slaver.” James assumed._

_“There’s a lot of caps in that profession, but my moral compass steers me away from it.” Butch said. “I’m a guard… was a guard for Doc Reynolds. We went up to P.F. to sell some chems and on our back here, we got ambushed by some raiders over at Kaelyn’s Bed and Breakfast. Raiders are second-rate gunmen, but they got lucky and killed my partner Ming with a clean shot to the head. Doc was killed. They even killed our Brahmin, Nettie, just for shits and giggles. I took Muggsie and got the hell outta there.”_

_“You managed to travel into Springvale wounded.” Cross said._

_“I’ve been through worse.” Butch glanced over towards the infant that James held. She stared directly at her father. His face was the only thing her eyes could focus on since her vision was still developing. “She’s a tiny, little thing.”_

_“Only a week old,” James smiled. “Her name’s Ava.”_

_Two fluorescent lights beamed onto the group once they arrived at the entrance to Megaton. Standing outside of the entrance was a Protectron robot. The light inside of the glass dome flickered on and off as it spoke. It’s robotic, monotone voice greeted the group. “Welcome to Megaton. Have yourself a nice visit, partner.”_

_“You wanna drink?” Butch asked James._

_“I have a newborn. I can’t indulge in that behavior.” James said._

_“I didn’t ask if you wanted to get drunk. You look like you need a scotch, that’s all.”_

_“I suppose one drink won’t hurt.”_

_The door to Moriarty’s saloon swung open and Muggsie ran inside. She playfully barked at the few residents inside of the bar and circled around Colin Moriarty, who looked at the dog in disgust. “Hey! Butch get your fucking mutt out of my place of business!”_

_“Colin, relax. She can help you piss in the drinks.”_

_Moriarty smirked. “Lock her in Gob’s room then. I can’t have her disturbing the customers.”_

_“You understand that this is my saloon, not a daycare.” Moriarty leaned on the bar and watched as James and Cross sat at two empty stools at the bar._

_“It’s been a long week and I need a scotch.” James said._

_“Ah… the restlessness of being a new father.” Colin grabbed an empty glass that sat on the bar and threw it towards Gob. The glass missed the ghoul and shattered into pieces when it came into contact with the wall. “Don’t just stand there, fucking zombie! Get this man a drink and clean up that glass when you’re done. You’re new in town. Where’d you come from?”_

_It took a moment for James to realize that Moriarty was talking to him. “I was a scientist at the Jefferson Memorial.”_

_Moriarty sighed when he saw Ava yawn. “The common house doesn’t have enough beds for you. Tell you what; I’ll let you stay in one of the bedrooms upstairs. You’re a friend of Butch’s, so I’ll accommodate. Plus, I have a soft spot for babies… until they cry that is.”_

* * *

_Alphonse had promised to have a new doctor for the Vault some time ago. It wasn’t surprising to the residents that he hadn’t kept that promise. With persistence, Agnes was able to get Alphonse to let her go out on one last expedition to recruit a doctor from Megaton. Her plan was to go to the clinic and recruit Doctor Church. He was a brash man, but had extensive medical knowledge._

_Unfortunately for Agnes, Doc Church wouldn’t let her get a word out. He quickly dismissed her because he was busy tending to the four patients that were waiting for his assistance in the infirmary. Agnes stepped out of the clinic. Megaton hadn’t changed since she had last visited. She saw Confessor Cromwell preaching in front of the bomb that sat in the center of town. She glanced over to see Lucas Simms greeting the locals as he walked to the entrance of Megaton. Agnes noticed Butch sitting at the barstools at the Brass Lantern’s outdoor eating area. Agnes walked down the ramp and made her way towards the Brass Lantern._

_Butch ate noodles and talked with another man that sat next to him. The man besides Butch held a baby against his chest, with the infants head rested on his shoulder. Butch was in the middle of a sentence when Agnes caught his eye. He called out her name with a smile and got up from his stool to offer the seat to Agnes._

_“Thank you, but I was going to leave soon, Butch.” Agnes said._

_“That’s too bad. It’s been a long time, Aggie. How’s Ellen doing?” Butch asked. “How’s Junior? He should be six months old by now. Shit… I’m sorry. Agnes, this is James and his little girl, Ava.”_

_“Pleased to meet you,” Agnes greeted James. “Butch, I want to lie to you and say that they’re fine, but Ellen isn’t doing well. She misses you and the Overseer has been tough on her. Everyone knows the father of her child is a Wastelander. Some treat him… differently. Some of the other parents don’t want the kids around him.”_

_“Screw that. Tell Ellen to leave that fucking hole and come with me.”_

_“I can’t. The Overseer won’t let anyone else out of the Vault.” Agnes said. “Even if she could leave, do you really want her and your son to risk their lives out here in the Wasteland?”_

_“No…” Butch sighed. “How’d you leave?”_

_“I have one chance to find a doctor for our Vault. If I don’t find someone today, we won’t have one to help the next generation of dwellers.” Agnes explained._

_“I know a guy.” Butch pointed at James. “Jimmy fixed me up a week ago after we came into town together. Turns out my gunshot wounds were getting infected. He cleaned me up.”_

_“That’s perfect. Though, you won’t have to worry about any bullet wounds in the Vault.”_

_“This is all happening fast. I need some time.” James said._

_“Time for what? Think about it, Jimmy. You wanted to help people with that water project you were telling me about. You’re not doing that anymore. Going to the Vault will be a way for you to help those in need. Besides that, your daughter will safe and she can be friends with my son. They can identify with each other, you know, being Wasteland kids and all.”_

_“Whenever you make up your mind, I’ll be waiting in the common house.” Agnes said._

_“I’m telling you…” Butch stuffed a few noodles inside of his mouth. His voice was muffled by the food. “It’s a good opportunity.” He chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth. “And when you go, because I know you will, take my leather jacket and give it to Ellen.”_

* * *

“Sweetheart…” Ava slowly opened her eyes to see James knelt down at her bedside. He smiled and kissed Ava on her forehead. “Look at you. Look at how big you’ve gotten.”

“I’m not five years old dad.” Ava’s voice came out as a soft whisper from how tired she was.

“I know… you can take care of yourself.” James said. “But I want you to know that, in my eyes, you’ll always be my little girl. I love you, Ava.”

“Mm-hmm… love you too dad. Can I sleep now?” Ava closed her eyes again before James could respond.

James kissed her one last time before leaving Ava’s bedroom. The Vault was silent, save for the few footsteps of officers that patrolled the halls during the nightshift. James had made his way to the upper level of the Vault to get to Jonas’s office in the reception room in the Overseer’s office. Before he stepped through the doorway to the office, he was stopped by Security Chief Hannon.

“I’m sure you know that it’s past curfew, Doctor Jurado.” Chief Hannon pointed out

“I’m only dropping off a few files for Jonas to record in his terminal. The Overseer knows. I informed him in advance.” James said.

“Make it quick, Jurado. I don’t want to see you here when I return for room checks.”

James waited until Chief Hannon turned the corner at the end of the hall to enter the office. Jonas sat at his desk. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a holodisk to give to James. “I don’t want to sound pushy, James, but you need to make this quick.”

James nodded his head. He placed the empty holodisk inside of his Pip-Boy. The screen brought up an option to record and James pressed the icon to do so. “Ava, I don’t really know how to tell you this. I know that you’ll be upset with me, but I hope that you’ll understand. I’ve thought about this moment for as long as I can remember, but it was best for you not to know that I ever planned on leaving. It is also best for you not to know my reasoning for leaving or where I intend to go…”

“Don’t mean to rush you again, Doc, but we need to hurry before security comes.” Jonas got up from his seat.

“Ava, I love you and you’ll always be my little girl.” James ended the recording. It burned onto the holodisk and James ejected it from his Pip-Boy. He sat it back inside of Jonas drawer. “Please, give that to her… when the time is right.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

James took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s move swiftly.”

The Overseer’s apartment was connected to his office. The only one inside was Amata, fast asleep. The Overseer was inside of Stanley’s office in the reactor level going over new changes and repairs within the Vault. The door to the Overseer’s office was locked, but it could be manually overridden with brute strength if they pulled on the door’s lower handle with enough power. The two managed to pull the door up. Jonas held up the door, while James let go to enter the office.

“I’ll stay out here and keep a lookout.” Jonas said. “Good luck, James.”

“Thank you, Jonas, for all that you’ve done for me. I hate to burden you…”

“It’s fine, James. Please, be safe out there.” Jonas flashed one last smile to James before leaving the doorway. The office door closed behind him and James was left alone inside of the Overseer’s office. The lights were off and he didn’t want anyone to see him through the circular window, so James used the flashlight on his Pip-Boy and dimmed the luminosity.

James walked over to the Overseer’s terminal. Above the computer screens, were four security televisions that displayed what the newly installed security cameras around the Vault were seeing. One television was hooked up to a camera inside of the clinic. Another television displayed the atrium, while the other television was connected to the Vault entrance. The last television showed the filtration room in the reactor, where the Overseer and Stanley were.

It wasn’t hard for James to activate the Overseer’s terminal. Besides his late-wife’s name, the password would be Amata. James was granted access to the system. There were numerous files: security dossiers, scouting reports, instructions from Vault-Tec, and just what James needed, access to the Overseer’s tunnel. He clicked the button to open the entrance to the tunnel. Behind him, the Overseer’s desk silently rose above the floor. There was a flight of stairs that led down to a small hallway that connected to the tunnel. In the hallway was an electrical switch that James pressed to lower the Overseer’s desk back to its original position. The tunnel was more like one large room with one door that led to another entryway to the Vault door, without going through the reactor.

The Vault door was left unguarded. James quickly jogged over to the control pod. He pressed a large green button and lifted a small switch that activated the conveyor belt on the ceiling to bring the drill to Vault door. The metal screeched loudly as the drill connected to the Vault. Sparks flew as the drill unlocked the door and released from the door. The large Vault door rolled over, allowing access to the cave that led to the outside world.

James could hear the sound of footsteps rushing to his location. He wasted no time and ran into the manmade cave, until he reached the door at the end of the cave. The light of the Wasteland shone through the numerous cracks within the door. Without looking back, James pushed open the door and escaped to the world outside of the Vault.

* * *

“Holy shit…” Officer O’Brian stood at the doorway to the Vault’s entrance. The Vault door was open and the room was cold from the air that it let flow inside. O’Brian grabbed onto his walkie and raised it to his mouth. “Officer O’Brian patching through to Security Chief Hannon, do you read me?”

_“I read you, loud and clear officer.”_

O’Brian walked over to the control pod. “Chief Hannon, there appears to be some sort of malfunction with the Vault door.”

_“What’s going on “’Brian? What is your location?”_

“The Vault entrance, sir,” O’Brian stated. “The Vault door is open.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The downside to naming Butch's dad Arthur "Butch" Cohen is that I feel like it might confuse readers. Hopefully it didn't.


	12. A Ticket Costs Only Your Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING* There's brief violence in this short chapter. I mean there was violence in previous ones, but I feel like maybe this time I should write a note about it.  
> This chapter is named after a lyric in My Name Is Jonas by Weezer.

The emergency lighting was turned on and alarms blared throughout the Vault. It wasn’t the loud alarms that managed to wake Ava up, but it was the crawly touch she felt brush up against her arm. Her eyes slowly opened. Her vision was blurry, but she noticed a large black spot on her blanket and over her legs. Ava rubbed at her half-open eyes and saw the spot quickly move from her blanket to the wall that her bed was pushed up against. Once her vision was clear enough, she screamed and fell out of her bed when the spot turned out to be a radroach.

The radroach hissed. Ava reached over and grabbed one of her pillows to throw at a radroach. Her aim was off and hit the wall instead of the bug. Ava reached underneath her bed to find her old BB gun. From the dust that coated the toy gun, it was clear that Ava hadn’t used it in years. She aimed the BB gun and closed one eye to try to focus her aim. Just as Ava was ready to press her finger on the trigger, her bedroom door slid open and Butch ran inside. Ava screamed and shot at Butch twice before realizing who he was.

“Ow! What are you…?” Butch’s eyes widened when he noticed the radroach on Ava’s bed. He stumbled back and yelled at the bug to stay away from him. The bug jumped from the bed and onto the floor, making Ava get up from the floor and scurry from her bedroom. She closed the door behind her and turned around to see Butch pacing back and forth inside of the living room. He rubbed his hands over his cheeks and kept repeating, “Oh man, oh man, oh man…”

“Butch, what’s wrong?” Ava asked, but wasn’t given a response. She figured he couldn’t hear her over the alarms. Ava sat her BB gun on the coffee table. She stepped in front of Butch and placed her hands over his to bring them down. His cheeks were red. She could barely see his eyes due to his hair falling in front of them, but the fresh tears from his eyes fell down the same path as the ones that dried on his cheeks. His lips were pursed together and quivered whenever he tried to open his mouth to say something. “I need you to tell me what’s wrong, okay.”

Butch sniffled. “She can’t get out. She stuck in there.”

“I’m not gonna know what you’re talking about if you…”

“It’s dark.” Butch cried out. “There’s a bunch of radroaches and… and they won’t get away from my mom and I can’t stop ‘em. I can’t do it. I can’t. She’s gonna die because I’m a fucking coward.”

“You’re not a coward.” Ava’s reassured him. “We’re all afraid of something and fear is okay, but sometimes you’re gonna be forced to face them.”

“I can’t do it alone.” Butch said.

“You know I’ll be by your side.” Ava let go of Butch to grab her BB gun. She handed it to Butch.

“Maybe I can do it.” Butch said to himself. He swallowed the saliva that built up in his mouth. The gun shook rapidly from his trembling hands.

The buzz of the alarms grew louder once the front door to the Jurado residence opened. As soon as Butch and Ava stepped outside of her apartment they could hear someone cursing followed by loud banging on metal. It was Officer Kendall. He swung his baton at the radroach that swarmed around him. There were two other radroaches that were dead. One was squished onto the floor and the other was smashed onto the wall. Officer Kendall managed to stomp his boot down onto the last roach and a lime green, goo-like substance spurt from the roach’s body. Officer Kendall glanced up from the roach he had killed and noticed Ava and Butch. He pointed his baton at the pair and yelled out, “Hold it right there, Jurado!”

Officer Kendall slipped on the roach’s goo when he tried to approach Butch and Ava. Officer Kendall quickly got up and ran towards the two of them. He slightly pushed Butch out of the way to shove Ava against the wall.

“What the hell?” Ava felt Officer Kendall’s hand press harder onto her back.

Officer Kendall kicked at Ava’s ankles to forcefully spread her legs apart. He ordered her to, “Place your hands on the wall!”

“Butch go help your mom. You’re gonna be fine.” Butch knew there wasn’t much time left to ponder whether he could kill a radroach or not. There was no questioning it; he had to save his mom. From the corner of her eye, Ava saw Butch run down the hall. “What’s going on?”

“That’s what you’re going to tell us.” Officer Kendall attached his baton back to his security belt to be able to frisk Ava. There wasn’t a need to. She wore her grey shorts and a black tank top. There was no place to hide anything, except maybe the bun that sat messily on top of her head. Officer pulled one of Ava’s arms down to cuff her wrist and brought the other down to completely restrain her arms.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Officer Kendall pulled Ava off of the wall. He held onto her arm as he marched her through the halls. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Get your lies out now and be ready to tell the truth during your interrogation.” Officer Kendall said.

Alarms, screams, gunshots, and hurried footsteps filled the Vault, but somehow the walls of the cell in the security headquarters muted everything out. Ava sat on a chair that was placed in the center of the cell. Officer O’Brian and Richards were positioned on opposite ends of the cell walls, armed with their 10mm pistols. Ava was silent as the two men talked with one another.

“You saw the door open.” Richards said.

“Yep, it was like the door opened itself.”

“How do we know the doc really left the Vault?” Ava’s ears perked up to Richard’s question.

O’Brian noticed Ava’s reaction and smiled. “Don’t act surprised. We all know that you knew your daddy was trying to escape.” O’Brian went on to answer Richard’s question. “It’s not that hard to piece together, Richards. The only person that isn’t in the Vault is the doctor.”

“Yeah… oh, straighten up.” Richards and O’Brian stopped talking. They straightened their posture and tightened their grip around their guns when they saw the Overseer and Officer Allen Mack entering the security headquarters.

Allen Mack opened the door to the cell and stood directly in front of Ava, alongside the Overseer. The Overseer placed his hands firmly on his hips. “I always knew that your father would be trouble and yet, I was persuaded to let him in our peaceful home and allowed his spawn to be raised alongside our pure children. You’re a bad seed. I can’t fathom why my Amata would associate with you.”

“I don’t…” Ava flinched when Allen Mack swung his baton towards her face. He deliberately didn’t hit her, but wasn’t against doing so if the Overseer ordered him to.

The Overseer continued, “Jonas Palmer claims to not know why your father left the Vault. Logically, it would be safe to assume that James’s daughter would know.”

“He left… why… why would my…” Ava took a moment to try to collect her thoughts. “Why would my dad leave the Vault?”

“You know why?”

“I don’t!” Ava cried out. “I don’t know anything. I… what do you want from me?”

“I want you to tell the truth before I order Officer Mack to beat it out of you.” The Overseer threatened.

“I don’t know!”

“Officer Richards. Officer O’Brian.” The Overseer called out their names. “Go out and control the radroach infestation.”

“Sir,” The two officers said in unison and made their way out of the cell. Richards pouted and sighed through his nostrils. “I don’t think she knows a damn thing.”

“How do you know?” O’Brian adjusted his bulletproof vest.

“There’s nothing for her to gain in lying. Besides, her daddy’s long gone and it’s not like we’re going out of the Vault to find him.” Richards thought for a moment. “Unless she’s holding her tongue to protect Jonas. They think the four-eyed bastard help the doc escape.”

* * *

Ellen DeLoria’s head bobbed as Butch carried her limp body over to their sofa. He lied her down so that her head was propped against one of the few pillows that decorated the furniture. Ellen’s own blood stained her hands from being pierced by broken glass that was sprinkled across her bedroom floor. Butch draped his leather jacket over Ellen’s upper body and tucked her stray strands of hair behind her ear.

“Butchie…” Ellen took a deep breath. Her mouth smelled of vodka and so did her body. When the radroaches attacked she spilled her drink all over herself.

Butch shushed his mother and kissed her on her cheek. “Get some rest, mom. I love you.”

Butch left the living room to return to his mother’s bedroom. Surrounding her bed were the radroaches that Butch had managed to kill. He stared at their lifeless bodies. Initially, he was scared, but after he managed to kill one roach with the BB gun, it wasn’t as bad. That didn’t mean he was going to be the one to pick up the roaches and throw them in the trash burner.

“Get away from me!” Butch faintly heard someone scream outside of his apartment.

“Come on, Paul, this way!”

There were two voices. Butch recognized them as Paul and Freddie. Butch ran out of his apartment only to see Freddie stop in his tracks when he noticed Butch. There was no sign of Paul. As soon as Freddie opened his mouth to say something to Butch, the two of them heard Paul scream followed by loud banging coming from the staircase.

“Paulie!” Butch yelled out, but there wasn’t a response. He and Freddie dashed over to where they heard the commotion. There were two radroaches at the top of the staircase that led to the classroom and the clinic. Sprawled on the floor at the bottom of the staircase was Paul. His neck was stiff. When he tried to talk, it came out as inaudible whimpers.

“Shit…” Freddie stared at the fallen Tunnel Snake.

Butch bent over and grabbed Paul by his arms. He slowly lifted his fellow Tunnel Snake from the ground. Paul’s feet dragged across the floor as Butch brought him back to his apartment and Freddie followed. Butch’s mom occupied the sofa, so he lied Paul down on his bed. Paul’s eyes watered and he couldn’t stop the tears that fell from them. The t-shirt that Paul wore exposed his arms to radroach bites that covered his skin.

* * *

The alarms lasted for another two hours before they were shut off. The majority of the radroaches were dead and those that managed to survive retreated to the shadows of the Vault. The Overseer assured his residents over the intercom that the infestation was controlled and that there would be a security check. It wasn’t to make sure that the residents were safe, but to know that no others managed to escape the Vault while the open door was left unoccupied.

Jonas and Ava sat on opposite ends of the cell. Ava had her head against the wall and her eyes closed to try to get some rest. Her head hurt from how much she cried to Overseer that she didn’t know about any of what happened within the Vault.

“Are you okay, sport?” Ava opened her eyes to see Jonas. He may have smiled, but his eyebrows furrowed as though he was concerned.

“Jonas, dad didn’t really leave the Vault, did he?” Ava asked.

Jonas let out a long sigh. “He had his reasons for doing so.”

“And you know?”

“Yes, but your father doesn’t want you to. One day, when you’re ready, maybe you can. He may be gone, but he left you in my care. I’ll protect you.” Jonas said. “Did the Overseer hurt you?”

“No. Officer Mack threatened a bunch of times though… asshole.” Ava sighed. “I don’t know what’s happening. They haven’t told us what’s going on right now and I’m worried.”

“Amata’s fine, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“I know she’s fine. I’m worried about Butch…” Ava was distracted by the sound of Officer Richards unlocking the cell door.

The door slowly opened and the officer stepped inside. “Did I interrupt something?”

“No, officer, you didn’t.” Jonas said.

“Get up Jurado,” Officer Richards said as he made his way over to her. He wrapped his hand around Ava’s arm and helped her up from the floor. “Consider yourself lucky. You get to go home until the Overseer decides what to do with you. Sadly, I’m the one that has to babysit you.”

“Ava,” She glanced over to see Jonas’s smile. “I’ll be out of here soon, sport.”

* * *

Jonas was a sweet, young man. He’d never harm another being, even if they’d put him in harm’s way. His ribs hurt from being kicked at. His head throbbed when it was banged into the steel wall. Jonas didn’t have enough strength in his body to pick himself off of the floor when Allen Mack ordered him to stand up. Allen Mack, Stevie Mack, and Officer O’Brian surrounded the former medical assistant inside of the cell.

“Get up, fucking piece of shit!” O’Brian spat.

Jonas attempted to do as he was told. His legs were weak, but he mustered enough will to stand. He was brought back to the floor after Stevie whipped him across the face with the barrel of his pistol. Jonas’s glasses flew from his face and he felt one of his teeth loosen from his gums.

Stevie laughed and Allen said, “You should’ve followed that bastard out of the Vault. You guaranteed a death sentence by staying here, boy.”

Chief Hannon watched Jonas’s beating from outside of the cell. Jonas aided the doctor in his escape. Therefore, for Hannon, Jonas was the one responsible for his wife’s death and his son’s injuries. Hannon allowed his three most violent officers into the cell with Jonas, knowing they’d attack him. He made sure to send out all the other officers for security check around the Vault. Hannon enjoyed every punch, kick, and curse directed at Jonas. The Chief didn’t even intervene when Stevie aimed his pistol at Jonas’s head.

Jonas was backed into the corner of the cell. His nose was crooked and blood flowed from his nostrils and caressed his busted lips. Stevie held his gun at Jonas’s face and smirked. “Don’t close your eyes.” He made sure that Jonas looked directly at him as he rubbed his finger over the trigger. Stevie started to press his finger down slowly, but quickly pulled the trigger to scare Jonas. Only a clicking sound escaped from the gun.

“Damn, you should’ve loaded it.” O’Brian wished.

Stevie pressed on the trigger two more times. “You’re not scared anymore?” He asked when he noticed Jonas began to relax. Stevie shrugged his shoulders and pulled on the trigger one more time for fun.

The loud _bang_ from the cell made Chief Hannon jump. He quickly opened the cell door to see his three officers huddled around the corner of the cell. Chief Hannon pushed Stevie and O’Brian out of the way. The Chief gagged once he saw Jonas’s mutilated face. His right eye bulged from its socket and his nose was blasted inwards, leaving a gaping hole for blood to escape from. Jonas’s body was slumped against the wall and his blood splattered onto it as well.

O’Brian kicked at Jonas’s foot. “Nice work, Stevie. How the hell are we supposed to explain this to the Overseer?”

“I didn’t mean too...” Stevie thought aloud. He took a few step backs from Jonas’s body. “It was an accident.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about letting Ava finally leave, but I don't think she's ready yet.


End file.
